FORMER Keighley MP John Grogan, who lost his seat in the ‘red wall’ collapse of 2019, is vying to represent the constituency again.

Mr Grogan has confirmed he has applied to be the Labour Parliamentary candidate at the next General Election.

More names are expected in the coming days and a final selection meeting is to be held later in the year.

Mr Grogan, 61, served as the MP for Selby between 1997 and 2010 and between 2017 and 2019 as Keighley and Ilkley MP.

He said: “I have fought eight General Elections always in marginal seats.

“I know what it takes to get over the line in a tight contest. In 2019 the Keighley result was one of the best for Labour in the region.

“Defending a majority of just 239, I lost by 2,218, a swing against Labour of just 2.3 per cent on a very bad night for the party nationally.”

After losing his seat in 2019, Mr Grogan said it would be a moment of reflection for the party and said “we need to remember that only as a broad church we win”.

He added: “For over a century the people of Keighley and Ilkley have looked to the Labour Party to bring about social progress and economic change.

“I take inspiration from Hastings Lees-Smith who was elected as Keighley’s first ever Labour Member of Parliament 100 years ago in November 1922 .

“When he lost the seat at a subsequent General Election he went on to win it back. In a classic marginal like Keighley where every vote counts it helps to have name recognition and a record.”

He added: “I will campaign strongly on Labour’s policies but to do so will require listening carefully to local concerns.

“My pitch will be that I will seek to unite and not divide the people of a very diverse constituency .

“I would be an independent-minded , loyal , strong Yorkshire voice for Keighley and Ilkley in Parliament.”

He said Airedale General Hospital unites the constituency and added its “whole future is under threat if the wards are not rebuilt”.

Mr Grogan added: “Hopefully a commitment for the necessary funding will come sooner rather than later although speculation about possible Government spending cuts on capital programmes worry me.