There are at least two keenly awaited Labour candidate selection contests this Saturday in Bradford and Neath, followed by a Conservative candidate selection in Bury St Edmunds next Tuesday evening.

Little publicly available information has been forthcoming on the Bradford East contest, perhaps related to the on-going problems in the local party (see this 2 October piece from the Bradford Telegraph and Argus). The longlisted candidates for the seat have been reported by Urban Echo. Bradford East, currently held by Liberal Democrat MP David Ward, is 10th on Labour’s official target seat list and is the last one of the party’s official 106 targets to select a candidate.

Given the lack of build-up it looks unlikely that Bradford Labour Party will also be selecting their candidates in Bradford South (to replace the retiring MP, Gerry Sutcliffe) and Bradford West (to fight by-election victor, George Galloway) at the same meeting.

The Labour contest on Saturday (1 November) in the safe seat of Neath to select a replacement for the retiring Peter Hain has attracted more publicity. See Wales Online and The Times (£) for further detail about the shortlisted candidates.

Looking ahead to early next week, the Conservatives are due to select a new candidate in Bury St Edmunds on Tuesday 4 November following David Ruffley announcing that he is not standing at the election. ConservativeHome has the details of the shortlist or the East Anglian Daily Times if you prefer a more local take.