- JOHN Grogan is to reprise his battle to wrest Keighley from Tory control.

He has been selected by Labour to contest the Parliamentary seat at the General Election, on June 8.

In 2015, he failed in his bid to unseat sitting Conservative MP Kris Hopkins, who was returned with a 3,053 majority.

But Mr Grogan said this week he was confident the polls nationally would tighten in the coming weeks and that he was looking forward to a "robust but civilised" campaign.

"I'm delighted to be standing again in Keighley," he said.

"I was asked to put forward my name in a couple of safe Labour seats, but I wanted to stand my ground and fly the party flag in Keighley and Ilkley once again.

"The constituency is 23rd on the national list of target seats for Labour and if we are to get rid of the Conservative majority in Parliament, it is crucial that it is a Labour gain on June 8."

Mr Grogan said he first campaigned for Labour in Keighley in 1979, when the late Bob Cryer stood and took the seat by just 78 votes.

And he began his latest campaign today with the constituency's last Labour MP, Ann Cryer, exactly 20 years after her election victory and the party's national success.

Mr Grogan, 56, who lives at Burley-in-Wharfedale, was MP for Selby from that same year until 2010.

"When we were in Parliament together Ann and I voted the same way on 95 per cent of votes," he said.

"As we remember that great victory in 1997 we of course are also looking forward to the coming campaign.

"I anticipate some robust discussions on policy in the next five weeks, but I'm sure the local campaign will be civilised and courteous as it was last time.

"I expect the national polls to tighten as the campaign goes on and electors begin to look beyond the Conservatives' mantra of 'strong and stable'.

"There is not much stability in Keighley's schools at the moment, for example, as they face very significant cuts in funding.

"In the coming weeks I will set out Labour's policies for Keighley and Ilkley regarding education, health, transport, Brexit and housing."

On the issue of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Grogan said neither he nor Mrs Cryer had voted for him in the leadership contest.

But he added: "I think he has made a strong start to the campaign.

"Both of us know his many qualities from our time working together on the backbenches on issues such as Iraq."