York MP Hugh Bayley today said he was looking forward to campaigning from the backbenches after becoming a surprise casualty of Tony Blair's post-election reshuffle.

Mr Bayley was sacked as junior social security minister after more than two years in the post.

It comes after the Department for Social Security was replaced with a larger Department for Work and Pensions. In a telephone call, Mr Bayley was reassured by Mr Blair that he had done nothing wrong.

The Prime Minister told him that he wanted to take a look at some of the "class of 1997" MPs instead.

Mr Bayley said: "It was a tremendous experience and I learned a lot about how Government really works.

"This will make me more effective when I am lobbying ministers on York's behalf.

"On the positive side, I am now able to speak out in public once again for my constituency and that is a big bonus."

He added: "The Prime Minister said very kind things about the job I had done, but said he needed to bring on some of the new faces from 1997."

Mr Blair made sweeping changes to his junior ministerial team on Monday, with 22 ministers returning to the backbenches.

Updated: 11:03 Tuesday, June 12, 2001