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Former Labour MP Roger Godsiff has been barred from standing again as the party's candidate in the Birmingham Hall Green.

Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided he should not be the party's candidate in the December 12 general election.

Mr Godsiff had been fighting to continue as the candidate after local activists began moves to replace him with someone new, following a row over his support for parents protesting against equality lessons in a Birmingham primary school.

The selection process was taken out of the hands of local Labour members when the general election was called. Instead, it became a decision for the NEC.

Today, the NEC ruled that Mr Godsiff would not be the candidate.

Labour will now begin the process of choosing a replacement candidate. This is expected to be completed within days.

(Image: PA)

In theory, Mr Godsiff is still free to stand for election but he would not be the Labour candidate. as Parliament broke up on Tuesday night, he is officially no longer an MP.

Councillor Sharon Thompson, Birmingham City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, has put herself forward as a possible candidate. If she is chosen, and goes on to win the seat in the general election, then she would become Birmingham's first black MP.

In October, Labour Party members in three out of the four branches of the Hall Green constituency voted in favour of holding a full selection contest, to decide who should represent the party at the next general election.

The so-called "trigger ballots" meant Mr Godsiff could face a challenge from other Labour members who wanted to be the party's candidate, with members in his Hall Green constituency selecting the winner.

But the NEC intervened in Birmingham and other constituencies where similar battles were taking place, after the general election was called.

It is understood that Labour chief whip Nick Brown recommended to Labour's NEC that Mr Godsiff should not be endorsed as a candidate.

(Image: PA)

The MP has come under fire this year for his stance over LGBT equality education at local schools, including Anderton Park in Sparkhill, and his support for protestors opposed to younger primary children learning about same sex families.

The protesters have attacked lessons that promote equality for LGBT people, for example by teaching children that some families may have two parents of the same sex. Mr Godsiff says he supports the teaching of lessons with this message, but he also believes schools should follow Government guidance which states lessons should be "age appropriate", and states that primary schools should take into account the religious and cultural views of parents.

In a letter to party activists in September, he said: "Unfortunately, some groups and individuals have deliberately misrepresented and misinterpreted my views and labelled myself, parents and anybody else who supports the 'age appropriate' ministerial guidance as homophobic and have pursued a campaign of character assassination through social media."

Mr Godsiff has been a Birmingham MP since 1992, representing first Sparkbrook & Small Heath and then, following boundary changes, Hall Green. He is expected to make a statement shortly.