Bradford is a 'key battleground' as campaigning starts for General Election

All of the parties are expected to send some of their big hitters from Westminster to the Bradford district in a bid to sway voters.

David Ward (Lib Dem, Bradford East), George Galloway (Respect, Bradford West), Kris Hopkins (Con, Keighley) and Philip Davies (Con, Shipley) will all be defending their seats.

A new MP will be elected for Bradford South as Gerry Sutcliffe, who has held the seat since 1994, is stepping down.

Labour will be looking to regain the Bradford West seat which Mr Galloway won against the odds in a by-election in March 2012.

Mr Galloway polled 18,341, a 56 per cent share of the vote, in a turnaround which represented a 37 per cent swing from Labour.

So far, Respect has not declared candidates in any other seats in the Bradford district.

The party's national secretary, Ron McKay, said: "The voters showed the last time that they are intensely dissatisfied with the Labour Party.

"George is confident he will retain his seat in Bradford West."

Labour has yet to announce its candidate in Bradford West but those contesting the other Bradford seats are Bradford Council deputy leader Imran Hussain in Bradford East, former Bradford councillor Judith Cummins in Bradford South, former Selby MP John Grogan in Keighley and Leeds University lecturer Dr Steve Clapcote in Shipley.

Cllr Hussain, who lost the Bradford West by-election to Mr Galloway, said Labour has learned lessons from the defeat.

He said: "That was a massive protest vote. There was a lot of anger around the Westfield development at that time.

"That was a by-election. You have seen that by-elections throughout history , things are not predicable.

"Of course we have made mistakes but we have moved forward.

"Now the Labour Party has a clear direction. We are a party of doers.

"I'm looking to talking to as many people as possible before the General Election."

Campaigning in earnest started in Bradford on Monday as Tristram Hunt, Shadow Education Secretary, visited engineering apprentices at the First Bus depot, Bowling Back Lane.

Prime Minister David Cameron started the Conservatives' election campaign with a visit to Halifax last week.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson also paid a visit to a Keighley firm yesterday.

Meanwhile, Conservative Party candidates are Iftikhar Ahmed for Bradford East, George Grant for Bradford West and Tanya Graham for Bradford South.

Philip Davies and Kris Hopkins, who ousted Labour MP Ann Cryer in 2010 after winning a 2,940 majority, will look to regain their seats in Shipley and Keighley respectively.

Mr Davies said: "The forthcoming General Election is the most unpredictable ever, and also one of the most important in modern times.

“There is a very distinct choice between a Conservative-led Government completing the task of living within our means and continued economic growth, or a Labour-led Government headed by Ed Miliband which would lead to more borrowing, higher taxes, and bigger debt interest payments.

"Having just completed a constituency wide survey I know that the biggest issues are the economy, immigration and the NHS, along with trying to stop unacceptable housing developments and better transport infrastructure."

Mr Hopkins said: “After five years serving the needs of local people and non-stop campaigning, I am confident of being given the opportunity to continue my work.

“While Keighley voters accept that a lot still remains to be done to return our economy back to health, there is a general appreciation that the tough decisions taken by the Conservative-led Government have been necessary.

“Immigration is constantly raised with me following the previous Labour Government’s decision to throw our borders open, together with local crime which has fallen significantly but we must never be complacent."

The Lib Dems will be looking to retain David Ward's seat in Bradford East, where he has a majority of only 365, and the party is selecting candidates for the seats in Keighley and Shipley.

Bradford Councillor Alun Griffiths (Idle and Thackley) will be running for the party in Bradford West, while Andrew Tear will contest the Bradford South seat.

Mr Ward said: “My aim as an MP has been to provide a first class constituency office and service, working hard on matters that were important to local residents, such as the cost of car insurance, the attempt to abolish cheques and the level of social care, to regularly report back to constituents and when necessary, put my constituents and Bradford before my party.

“Since 2010, I have personally held more than 500 surgeries in my office and together with my staff dealt with 15,000 pieces of casework.

“The contest between myself and the Labour Party in Bradford East will no doubt be a hard fought battle. I hope that the electorate acknowledge how hard I have worked but also the contribution that the Liberal Democrats have made to a Government that has halved the massive national deficit, reduced unemployment in Bradford and started to rebuild the damaged economy we inherited.”

UKIP says its number one target in Yorkshire in the forthcoming elections is Bradford South and its candidate is Jason Smith, its Bradford and district chairman.

Paul Latham, its regional organiser for West Yorkshire, will contest Keighley.

UKIP's Shipley candidate has yet to be decided and those for Bradford East and Bradford West will be decided this Saturday.

Mr Smith said: "Winning the Bradford South seat is our number one target.

"Keighley is going to be an interesting one and we are looking to have strong candidates in Bradford East and West.

"This is the most interesting election we have had.

"West Yorkshire is the biggest chance for us. We are expecting the Nigel Farage roadshow to come by our way during the election campaign."

The Green Party is also looking to make gains in the district. Bradford Councillor Kevin Warnes (Shipley) is running for the Shipley seat, Celia Hickson, who works for social housing group Incommunities, in Bradford West and Ros Brown, who is a teacher, in Keighley.

The party also plans to have two candidates running in Bradford East and South, who will be confirmed next week.

Colin Noble, Green Party regional co-ordinator for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "We have seen our party membership increase by 150 per cent over the last 12 months. It has gone through the roof.

"People are a bit fed up with the other parties. We are confident of getting a good turnout in the Bradford district.