Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne said he is "relieved and grateful" after he was re-selected as the area's Labour candidate following a dramatic vote.
Mr Byrne, known across the city and beyond for his anti-poverty campaigning, faced a difficult fight to retain the Labour nomination for the next General Election, going up against Croxteth Councillor Anthony Lavelle.
A tense meeting saw Mr Byrne defeat his challenger by 210 votes to 198. Earlier in the day supporters of both sides gathered and held placards outside the meeting, with large numbers queuing to get in and have their say.
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Some reported denied access to the crucial vote, while others held up signs saying they had been silenced. It was also reported that security guards were in place on the doors of the meeting.
Speaking to the ECHO today, he said: "I am relieved that I can now continue with the work I was elected to do two years ago and to keep pushing with the campaigns we have been running, including calling for a Right to Food and a Hillsborough Law.
"I now want to focus all my time and attention on the people of West Derby, who are really struggling right now and on taking the fight to the Tories, rather than internal Labour battles."
Speaking about the fight he has faced, the Labour MP said it has "taken its toll", adding: "I shouldn't have had to be dealing with that when I should have been able to focus on the people of this constituency. But in the end I was proud to stand on my record and proud to win the approval of the West Derby Constituency Labour Party."
He said: "There is a real opportunity now for a Labour government and that is what we should all be focussing on."
Speaking about the large queues of people who came out and waited to cast their vote in support of him, he added: "I am eternally grateful to everyone who has supported me. There were many people who waited patiently in the rain and some were not even allowed in. There have been lots of complaints about the whole process that we are looking into."
Relations between the Byrne and Lavelle camps were not been good during the campaign and the situation reached a crescendo last weekend amid accusations of bullying and intimidation during campaign events.
Mr Byrne tweeted that he faced "shameful" intimidation at an event last Saturday and said he had blocked those "involved in this appalling behaviour". Responding, Liverpool Council cabinet member Harry Doyle - a leading backer of Cllr Lavelle - said he had been blocked on twitter by the MP and urged him to withdraw his "baffling" claims, adding: "There was no intimidation from any of Anthony's team."
Earlier in the selection process, Mr Byrne made allegations of "multiple rule breaches" and said he was considering legal action. He claimed members had been unfairly excluded from nomination meetings in large numbers.
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