LABOUR has yet to choose its candidate to try to oust Bradford West MP George Galloway in May's General Election.

The party, which lost the safe seat in spectacular fashion in the 2012 by-election, is drawing up an all-women shortlist for the constituency this time round.

Labour candidates have been chosen for Bradford's other seats for a while, and Mr Galloway yesterday called the party's delay to select someone to run against him "bemusing".

But Labour insists it has been simply taking candidate selection in the district one constituency at a time.

A panel of national and local party members will meet on Thursday to select the shortlist for Bradford West, with the chosen women then going head-to-head at a hustings event on February 21.

And one of those hoping to make the cut has a history of battling the Respect leader elsewhere in the country.

Sophie Cannon was previously an aide to Baroness Oona King, who lost her seat in Bethnal Green and Bow to Mr Galloway in 2005.

On her campaign website, the barrister says Labour needs a "unifying candidate cutting right across local fiefdoms, local cultures and local tensions" - a reference to the Biraderi clan-based loyalty among Bradford Pakistanis, which Labour has been accused of relying on in the past.

The party is not revealing how many people have applied to be considered for the shortlist, but reports have suggested that two sitting Bradford councillors have thrown their hat in the ring.

These are Councillor Naveeda Ikram (Little Horton), who was the UK's first female Muslim Lord Mayor, and Councillor Shakeela Lal (City), said to be a front-runner with strong local support.

Mr Galloway said: "It is bemusing that the Labour Party have not selected a candidate up until now. Ms Cannon has emerged as the surprise candidate and if she is the Labour Party nominee then she is unknown in the constituency.

"Some might say she is a carpet-bagger, but I am fairly confident I will beat her or any other candidate they will put up."

Mr Galloway's shock defeat of Labour candidate Councillor Imran Hussain in 2012 prompted an internal Labour party investigation into what lessons it could learn.

But claims that the party had chosen an all-women shortlist for Bradford West to avoid a re-match between Mr Galloway and Cllr Hussain, the deputy leader of Bradford Council, were dismissed by the regional party, which pointed out that Bradford South also had an all-women selection process.

A Yorkshire and Humber Labour Party spokesman said: "Bradford has only ever had one woman MP and currently has five male MPs. Labour is determined to do something about that."

Others contesting the Bradford West seat are George Grant for the Conservatives, Cllr Alun Griffiths for the Liberal Democrats, Celia Hickson for the Green Party and Mohammed 'Harry' Boota for Ukip.

The deadline for parties to register their candidates is April 9.