Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers (continued)

A 54 word article by Andy McSmith in the Independent's "Village People" column this week has caught my eye.

"Phil Woolas, the MP suspended for tactics he employed in the general election, has form when it comes to antagonising Liberal Democrats. Woolas won the seat through a by-election in 1995, against an opponent with liberal views on law and order, who was described in Woolas's campaign literature as 'high on crime and soft on drugs'."

Except Phil Woolas didn't win the seat in a by-election in 1995.

There was a by-election in the Littleborough and Saddleworth by-election in 1995, where Phil Woolas was indeed the Labour candidate - and lost. He came second to the Liberal Democrats' Chris Davies - despite Labour's slur campaign against him and the Liberal Democrats.

Phil Woolas became an MP in 1997 in the newly created Oldham East and Saddleworth seat, formed from parts of the former Littleborough and Saddleworth and Oldham Central and Royton constituencies.

Just saying...