LABOUR members in Bradford West have signed a petition calling for their own MP, Naz Shah, to be expelled from the party.

But she has responded by saying the petition comes from a handful of members with an axe to grind.

Ms Shah was suspended from the party amid accusations of anti-Semitism and the party’s ruling National Executive Committee is due to meet today to discuss what action to take.

On the eve of this meeting, 33 members of the party in Bradford West have signed a petition calling for Ms Shah to be permanently expelled.

The petition, which has been sent to the NEC as well as the regional party office, moves a motion of no confidence in their MP, saying she has been “nothing but a complete disaster”.

One of the signatories is former Lord Mayor of Bradford, Choudhary Rangzeb.

Mr Rangzeb, who was a district councillor from 1988 to 2007, said: “Naz Shah has been a complete disappointment as an MP and has not delivered to the expectations of the members of the Labour party or the constituents of Bradford West.

“She has been at the forefront of controversy from the start and she continues to create controversy, damaging the Labour Party and Bradford West.”

Since becoming an MP last year, Ms Shah has waged a high-profile fight against what she described as “very dubious practices” in local Labour politics in some areas of her constituency.

In the past, she has claimed to have been the victim of an attempted smear campaign by elements within her own local party.

In January, the NEC stepped in to take control over the selection of local election candidates after receiving “allegations surrounding the process of selecting candidates”, a move Ms Shah welcomed.

Mr Rangzeb, who lives in Toller, said Ms Shah had “managed to effectively have the entire membership of the party in Bradford West branded untrustworthy and incapable of making local decisions”.

Ms Shah said: "I am proud to be the MP of Bradford West and am supported by the vast majority of around 900 members.

"This petition is reflective of a tiny minority of less than four per cent of members, many of whom have long had an axe to grind against me ever since the NEC selected me and particularly since I openly supported the NEC intervening in local selections earlier this year in my quest to support progressive and transparent politics."

Senior figures from Labour party branches in Clayton, Thornton and Heaton all pledged their support to Ms Shah yesterday after news of the petition broke.

Many said they had not been aware that such a petition was being collected.

Labour Party activist and Heaton campaign co-ordinator George Pope said it was indicative of a campaign against Ms Shah "which started before she even became the MP by a small and unrepresentative group of Bradford West Members".

Ms Shah has apologised in Parliament for comments she made about Israel, saying she accepted she had caused “upset and hurt to the Jewish community”.

The comments were made on social media before she became an MP.