SHIPLEY'S Tory-held Parliamentary seat – which includes Cullingworth and Denholme – has been named in a leaked list of 75 key marginals where the Labour Party is reportedly getting ready to select candidates before Christmas.

The list was leaked to the left-wing website Labour List and includes just three other seats in Yorkshire – Morley & Outwood in Leeds, Pudsey and York Outer.

And the local Labour Party has revealed that Shipley, where Philip Davies has been the MP since 2005, is to have an all-women shortlist.

Shipley Constituency Labour Party chairman Joe Wheatley said: “It’s fantastic to be put down nationally as a marginal seat. It means more resources and a great opportunity to get Philip Davies out and we intend to get him out.”

Meanwhile, a post on the Shipley Labour Party Facebook page revealed the constituency had been designated an all-women shortlist. “Shipley has never had a woman MP, we are looking forward to changing this at the next election,” it said.

At the snap General Election in June, Mr Davies saw his majority narrow to 4,681. Labour gained 30 seats in all, closing the gap on the Tories to 56 as Theresa May lost her overall majority.

Earlier this month left-wing journalist Owen Jones and pro-Jeremy Corbyn group Momentum were in Shipley to host an event in the town called Unseat Philip Davies, beginning a campaign to get him replaced by a Labour MP.

The Shipley MP had already hit back in a war of words, branding Mr Jones a “metropolitan, left-wing luvvie” and challenging him to a battle at the ballot box.

The event on September 10 at Shipley and District Social Club was to train people up to canvass on doorsteps even before the next General Election is announced.

When Mr Davies was contacted about his constituency being included in the leaked list, he said it was not a surprise.

He said: “I don’t think that it’s going to come as a surprise to anyone.

“We had Owen Jones up here so it’s perfectly obvious they are targeting Shipley, that’s democracy. I will keep working hard and doing everything I can but it’s up to the people of Shipley to decide who they want.

“It’s a healthy state of affairs for democracy.”