Conservative MP Lee Scott is out of touch with the community and has abandoned struggling families, according to the man Labour has chosen to challenge him at the next general election.

Cllr Wes Streeting, who was selected by party colleagues on Sunday, has vowed to hold the Ilford North MP to account during the run up to the 2015 vote for "damaging" cuts and "broken promises".

He told the Guardian: “Lee Scott has become out of touch with the people of Ilford North.
“We have a real responsibility here to listen to residents’ needs, not drive them out of the area they live in with police cuts and bedroom tax.

“Ilford North is a key battleground and right now the Conservatives are not standing up for families struggling to make ends meet.

“Every day we see the damaging impact that the Tories are having on our community from broken promises on King George Hospital to recent cuts to our police stations at Barkingside and Wanstead.

“Lee Scott is loyally towing the party line and voting through the very policies that are making things worse.

“People deserve a Government that stands up for them – not for a privileged few. 

“I’ll be taking a positive message to the doorsteps of Ilford North to show that Labour will take the action needed to deal with the cost of living crisis and build an economy that works for ordinary people.”

But MP Lee Scott has backed the government’s record and remains confident he can fend of Labour’s challenge.

He said: “The mess that the Labour party left for us to clear up was an absolute disgrace.
“Unemployment is down, the council is working hard and doing an excellent job and there have been no closures to any police stations in Ilford North.

“I have also been behind the campaign to keep Snaresbrook Primary from becoming an academy when it is not even in my borough.

“I am sure we will have as robust an argument as any opposition we may face before 2015.”
At the 2010 general election Lee Scott won 45.7 per cent of the vote, compared to Labour’s 34.3 per cent – a majority of 5,404.

Lee Scott originally took the seat in 2005 with a majority of 1,653.