STROUD MP David Drew has ruled out standing as an independent candidate at the forthcoming general election.

The Labour member, who has often rebelled against the government, feared the move would force him to abandon his principles for ‘populist’ policies or even become a ‘single-issue’ MP.

He was responding to several letters from members of the public, who said they wanted him to remain as the local representative but not at the risk of Labour returning to power.

Mr Drew said: "My problem with being an independent is you would be one of a very small number who don’t have traction over the political process.

"You would flit around taking on populist issues and would not necessarily do the difficult things - you would be always changing your principles.

"I have said what I do and what I would do and people have to vote for me on that basis."

Mr Drew, a Labour member for 40 years, said he was an ‘independent-minded’ MP and was prepared to disobey the whips to do the ‘right thing’.

He said he disagreed with the government on some issues, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was prepared to fight to change minds from within the party.

Mr Drew claimed a diversity of views were needed within political groups.

He said there were some respected independent MPs but they often had a ‘single-issue’ agenda, such as health.