THE Labour Party has said an activist who defected to Ukip had recently been rejected as a parliamentary candidate.

Owais Rajput (pictured) has announced he was joining the anti-EU party after 23 years of campaigning for Labour, saying it was “working against the grassroots”.

But a Yorkshire and Humber Labour spokesman said: “Mr Rajput applied to be Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Bradford East but members there chose not to shortlist him for the position so most people will see this as nothing more than selfish opportunism.”