A new policy to encourage more women to enter politics has left one Bradford councillor out in the cold.

Labour councillor Mark Blackburn was not selected to represent his ward in this year's elections because new rules within the party mean that a third of candidates for winnable seats must be women. But the three existing councillors for the Shipley East ward are male.

At a meeting of the Windhill and Wrose Labour Party, Coun Blackburn was dropped from the shortlist of candidates to stand for election in June.

The wards will be restructured this year, so the Labour candidates for the new Windhill and Wrose ward will be Councillor Phillip Thorn-ton, Councillor Tony Miller and Vanda Greenwood.

Coun Blackburn said: ""I wasn't shortlisted this time. The Labour group is trying to attract more women on to the Council and new rules meant it couldn't shortlist three men.

"The branch had a very difficult decision to make and was in a difficult situation.

"This means I won't be standing in the new Wrose and Windhill ward but the selection process is on-going and hopefully I will be selected to stand in another area."

Coun Blackburn has been a member of the party for 12 years and a Bradford councillor for five years.

Today branch chairman Darren Burton said: "I am confident that although difficult as this process has been, it has been carried out within the party guidelines. There are always winners and losers in election procedures, however I am pleased to announce that the three candidates have now been selected."

Commenting on the new guidelines for female candidates, he said this was a decision made at 'grass-roots level' within the party.

A regional Labour Party spokesman said: "The Labour Party has a commitment to ensuring it's candidates for public office reflect the communities they seek to represent. We have a policy of encouraging more women to enter politics. Almost half of Bradford's population are women and yet the city council is overwhelmingly male.

"The Labour Party is the only party which is serious about addressing this inequality. The local party in Bradford has agreed a policy that a third of all candidates in winnable seats will be women. This leaves two-thirds of the seats open for men or women."