THE fight to oust sitting Shipley Tory MP Philip Davies from his constituency seat has officially begun after Bradford Green Party voted to endorse Women’s Equality Party candidate Sophie Walker.

But she will also be fighting against candidate Caroline Jones who has been put forward by a confident Liberal Democrats team.

The Greens and Lib Dems have also put forward candidates to try and remove Tory MP Kris Hopkins from his Keighley seat.

Bradford Green Party members made the decision to stand aside and endorse Ms Walker’s candidacy in Shipley following a Party meeting yesterday.

She said she was "honoured to have the backing of the local Green Party and will work hard with them to oust Philip Davies".

Matt Edwards, the campaign co-ordinator for the Green Party in Bradford district, said: “Whilst we were initially sceptical, we have been convinced that Sophie is a candidate that the other progressive parties in Shipley should unite behind if they were willing to put the people of Shipley before their own political ambition.”

Meanwhile, Shipley Liberal Democrats said their candidate Mrs Jones was both strong and local and was selected some six or nine months ago.

“We were aware of the the option to stand aside and endorse Sophie Walker but we decided to field our own because we have experienced a massive increase in membership locally over the past couple of years,” said Liberal Democrats constituency chairman Peter Allison. “There has been a ten per cent increase in members since Theresa May called the snap General Election.”

In 1986 Mrs Jones returned to her native West Yorkshire having lived in both Leicester and Dorset where in 1985 she joined the Liberal Party.

She was first elected to Ilkley Parish Council in 1995 and served for seven years, the last one as vice-chairman. Following the separation of Ilkley and Burley Parish Councils she served for seven years on the new Burley Parish Council and was its first chairman.

Mr Allison added: “Also we have decided we wish to fight for Keighley. We have interviewed and selected someone but the person concerned needs final approval by the national party before he can be announced. He is a good local candidate. He does not live in the constituency but he lives nearby in North Yorkshire.”

Keighley and Ilkley Green Party is fielding Dr Ros Brown, who contested the Keighley seat in 2015.

Janet Russell, chairman of Keighley and Ilkley Green Party added: “The Green Party is looking long term and placing young people firmly at the heart of our campaign with our pledges to scrap tuition fees, bring back maintenance grants and protect students and universities after Brexit.

Bradford Green Party is meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to field candidates for the Bradford West, East and South seats.