FORMER Witney MP Shaun Woodward, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour, has been named Northern Ireland Secretary.
Mr Woodward crossed the divide in 1999 after only two years as Witney MP, a post now held by David Cameron.
But this morning he was given one of the most important jobs in new Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet.
He replaces Peter Hain.
Mr Woodward caused a storm in West Oxfordshire when he refused to stand before the Witney electorate as sitting Labour candidate at the General Election in 2001 and was instead "parachuted" into the safe St Helens South seat, which he still represents.
He and his wife Camilla still live at the family mansion in Sarsden, near Chipping Norton.
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