THE fight is on for Bradford East, which promises to be one of the most hotly contested seats in the country.

Liberal Democrat candidate David Ward is defending the slimmest of majorities - only 365 votes - with Labour determined to claim the constituency for themselves when the public go to the polls on May 7.

Mr Ward became MP for the newly re-created seat of Bradford East, the successor to the old Bradford North constituency, in 2010.

He had managed to snatch the seat from Labour’s Terry Rooney, who had been Bradford North MP for 20 years, by the slimmest of margins.

The Liberal Democrat was elected at the height of ‘Cleggmania’, when the party leader electrified the electorate in a series of televised debates.

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But now that phenomenon has been consigned to history, it may well be that Mr Ward’s slim majority all but disappears in this year’s election.

That’s certainly what Labour will be hoping. The party put Bradford East in tenth place on its 106-strong target seat list, and has selected a local heavyweight to take on Mr Ward.

Deputy council leader Imran Hussain has been given what looks on paper like the eminently achievable task of claiming the seat for Labour.

According to bookmaker William Hill, Labour are the 1/4 favourite to take Bradford East, with odds of 11/4 being offered for the Lib Dems and the Conservatives trailing on 40/1.

But battles are often harder-fought on the ground, as Cllr Hussain well knows, having been heavily defeated by Respect’s George Galloway in the 2012 Bradford West by-election, despite being widely expected to win.

And he can’t underestimate the threat posed by Mr Ward, as Liberal Democrats have a track record of hanging onto their seats in what on paper would look like the most dire of circumstances. Locally, the party has managed to retain seats on Bradford Council when national polling would suggest they would be lost.

Also contesting the seat are Iftikhar Ahmed for the Conservatives, Dave Stevens for the Greens, James Lewthwaite for the British Democrats (a former councillor for the British National Party) and Owais Rajput for Ukip.

Mr Rajput is perhaps not what people would think of as a typical Ukip candidate - a former Labour activist originally from South Africa who recently defected to the anti-EU party.

All candidates will be keen to engage with a host of issues affecting the Bradford East area.

This includes the number of homes being planned on the area’s green spaces - sometimes even against the wishes of planners at the local authority, with developers now increasingly going over their heads and taking the decisions to government planning inspectors.

And there are still serious pockets of deprivation in the constituency. Unemployment may be at a seven-year low across Bradford, but Bradford East still has 3,316 people claiming JobSeeker’s Allowance - the second highest number in the district - according to the latest Government figures.

Whatever happens, Bradford East looks set to play a crucial role in the fight for Number 10, in an election year where every seat counts.