LABOUR rebel John Woodcock spoke of his delight last night after surviving an assault on his plans to restand for election.

The politician, who has represented Barrow and Furness since 2010 was the subject of a vote to deselect him by the party's ruling National Executive Committee.

It centred around his publicly held views that party leader Jeremy Corbyn is unfit to be prime minister, which led to hard-left members of the party tabling a motion against him.

After learning he had survived the vote and had been officially selected as the party's candidate for Barrow and Furness. Mr Woodcock said last night: "I am delighted that the attempt to stop me standing up for the people of Barrow and Furness has been defeated and I will now go forward as the official Labour candidate on 8 June.

"I understand that my stance towards Jeremy Corbyn is controversial but I have always been determined to put our community first and be honest with the people I serve no matter how much flak I get.

"Thanks to sense prevailing, people in Barrow and Furness can vote on who they think will best stand up for them locally without worrying about national leadership.

"The choice on 8 June is me as the strong, independent Labour voice demanding the best deal for our area against Conservative government cuts to our hospital and schools, or a Tory nodding dog who won't fight our corner."

Mr Woodcock is an outspoken critic of his party's leader Jeremy Corbyn.

After confirming his intention to defend his Barrow seat, Mr Woodcock said last month that he couldn't face the idea of his anti-nuclear leader running the country, saying: "I will not countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn Britain's prime minister.

The Conservative Party are 1/5 odds-on favourites to win the Barrow seat at June's election, with Labour trailing at 3/1.