A DECISION on whether Labour's candidate for the Leyton & Wanstead parliamentary seat will be selected from an all-female shortlist will not now be made for several weeks.

The Labour party National Executive Committee was due to decide in the week whether to impose an all-female list on the constituency, a move which would be fiercely resisted by local party members.

But a decision was not made and it will now be several weeks until the local party finds out.

The fact that the party has still not selected its candidate to fight the seat is frustrating local party members, particularly as Lib Dem candidate Farooq Quereshi and Conservative Ed Northover have stepped up their campaigning in recent weeks.

Labour currently holds the Leyton & Wanstead seat with a majority of more than 7,000 and it is considered fairly safe.

But both the Lib Dems and Conservatives polled strongly last time around and anger at sitting MP Harry Cohen's role in the expenses scandal may mean it is a closely fought contest.

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