Labour on the hunt for Clegg challenger

In the coming weeks the party will choose who will contest the Sheffield Hallam seat held by Mr Clegg since 2005.

Labour insists it has already had significant interest among its members ahead of Monday’s deadline for potential candidates to put their name forward.

Mr Clegg retained the seat at the last General Election with a majority of more than 15,000 over Conservative candidate Nicola Bates.

Labour candidate Jack Scott was third, polling just over 8,000 votes.

Labour campaign co-ordinator and party vice-chairman Tom Watson said: “After his betrayal of thousands of Sheffield people, and his gleeful willingness to be David Cameron’s partner in crime, Nick Clegg will have to answer to his constituents at the next election.

“Labour is going to be pushing him all the way. It’s a seat that has been Tory or Lib Dem in the past but it’s now clear to most Sheffield Hallam voters that this was a false choice – they elected a Lib Dem but got a Tory.

“I look forward to coming up to campaign alongside whomever the local party selects as our candidate, because I think Labour can show the voters in Sheffield Hallam that it’s time for Nick to take a sharp Cleggsit.”

Anyone seeking the Labour nomination has to have been a party member for 12 months and will face interviews and hustings.

The coalition has said the next general election will take place in May 2015 and with just over two years to go Sheffield Hallam is one of the first seats in the region where Labour has begun its selection process.

It is also currently picking candidates for the Calder Valley and Colne Valley seats, both of which Labour lost to the Conservatives in 2010.

Nationally, Labour is targeting 106 constituencies where it will be focusing its efforts in 2015 as it looks to secure a 60-seat majority.

The list includes 10 seats in Yorkshire ranging from Bradford East, where Liberal Democrat MP David Ward had a majority of just 365 in 2010, to Leeds North West, which Greg Mulholland won for the Liberal Democrats with a margin of 9,100.