But it was the source of the party’s worst winning result in the country at the last election.

The result was almost a total reversal of the national trend and the reason seems to lie in the complex racial and religious politics that so often dominate this textile city below the eastern Pennines.

Labour fielded a Sikh candidate, Marsha Singh. However, 37% of the seat's population are Muslim - including the 1997 Conservative candidate Mohammed Riaz.

Mr Singh, the winner of a bitter selection battle with the sitting MP, lost support from both the ethnic minority and white voters. Mr Riaz was able to hold the Tory vote steady.

Not only does Bradford West have the most complex sociological make-up of the city's three constituencies, its economy is also the most diverse.

The seat stretches from the inner city out to the more select and rural fringes of the city, encompassing the town’s university, which is surrounded by some of the most deprived housing in West Yorkshire.