A feminist group in Shipley, West Yorkshire, has called on Women's Equality Party (WEP) leader Sophie Walker to stand down as a candidate to become the area's local MP, after she announced that she would contest the seat, which is currently held by Conservative Philip Davies, in June's general election.

"I would want [WEP] to really ask themselves whether Sophie’s candidacy is seriously likely to contribute to getting Philip Davies out of politics and replaced with something better," Jenny Wilson, a spokesperson for Shipley Feminist Zealots (SFZ) told BuzzFeed News. "If it’s not I would ask them to think of the greater good and consider withdrawing it."

The local activist group is named for a comment Davies made last summer on the UK's justice system being skewed in favour of women, in which he branded his opponents as "feminist zealots really do want women to have their cake and eat it".

Davies, a self-confessed men's rights activist and member of the women and equalities select committee, is known for talking bills out of parliament, a tactic known as "filibustering". This has included a bill to reduce hospital parking fees for carers and, most recently, a bill that would help tackle violence against women.

The WEP, led by Walker, was set up in September 2015 with a mission to challenge the government on gender equality. In May 2016, Walker came sixth in the London mayoral election with 2% of the vote. She announced her plan to run for MP of Shipley as a WEP candidate in The Observer this Sunday.



"Philip Davies basically is a sexist misogynist who puts his own ego ahead of his constituents," Walker told the newspaper. "Shipley deserves an MP who will prioritise representing them and the issues that are important to their constituency, rather than using parliament as a stage to play out attention-seeking performances."