Former Shipley MP Chris Leslie is expected to throw his hat into the ring after the contest began to fill the seat of former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

The selection procedure to find Mr Prescott's constituency successor is now officially under way.

Mr Leslie, now an aide to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is reported to have expressed an interest to serve as MP for Hull East when Mr Prescott brings down the curtain on his colourful 37-year Commons career.

High-flying Mr Leslie became the youngest MP in the House of Commons when he won the Shipley seat for Labour in 1997 at the age of 24.

He also became Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department of Constitutional Affairs until his dream of winning the Shipley seat for a third time was broken at the 2005 general election when he narrowly lost to Conservative Philip Davies.

He is expected to run against charity worker George McNamara, Hull city councillor Stephen Bayes, former councillor Gary Wareing and barrister Karl Turner.

Mr Prescott's son David, who works in public relations, has yet to declare whether he intends to throw his hat into the ring.