What a difference a year makes - Richmond's notorious heckler might be able to legitimately speak out at the Labour Party conference this year after being elected to the party's ruling National Executive Committee.

Walter Wolfgang, 83, who is the CND vice president and a long-time Labour Party activist, was elected to the committee last Thursday with 40 per cent of the votes.

Mr Wolfgang, who was forcibly ejected from last year's Labour Party conference in Brighton for calling out "nonsense" during the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's speech on Iraq, campaigned on an anti-war and anti-nuclear weapons platform.

He believed his heavy-handed treatment in Brighton had "woken people up" to Labour's "control freakery" and the NEC result was "partially a result of that".

Mr Wolfgang said: "My immediate priority is to call for an unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon.

"The British Government should have pursued this position from the beginning.

"What is happening in Lebanon is a disgrace to humanity.

"I also believe British troops should be brought home from Iraq and the Government should not replace Trident.

"I believe my election represents a growing sentiment within the Labour Party calling for policies of peace, not war."