LABOUR'S election campaign in Bradford West is in disarray after its newly-selected candidate quit after just four days.

Amina Ali, who had only been selected to stand against Respect leader George Galloway on Saturday, announced she was standing down to avoid "massive disruption" to her family.

The news will be a major embarrassment for the party, which had made Bradford West a target seat in the fast-approaching general election.

In a statement, Mrs Ali said: "I am the mother of two children and despite my best efforts to make arrangements to bring them to Bradford for the next 70 days, particularly as one of them is doing her GCSEs, this would have caused massive disruption at a critical time.

"I would not be able to do justice to the members of Bradford West CLP [constituency Labour Party] and the people of Bradford."

Yesterday, Mr Galloway called Mrs Ali's departure an "omnishambles", saying it was like an out-take from the political satire The Thick Of It.

He said: "Didn't she think it through before she put her name forward? Of course she did and no one's going to be taken in by that.

"Not even Malcolm Tucker could spin it successfully. The real reason is the war inside Bradford West Labour party and she's retreated from it, badly wounded."

Other political opponents have also been sceptical about Mrs Ali's reasons for stepping down, blaming Labour in-fighting.

George Grant, the Conservative candidate for the seat, said: “My heart goes out to Mrs Ali. She has cited family reasons as the official explanation for her departure, but I think many people here in Bradford suspect there is rather more to it than that.

“I have less sympathy for those behind all this who appear to be trying to take the electorate for absolute fools.

"It is not clear the extent to which clan politics is behind these events, and indeed if the rot spreads beyond merely the Labour Party in Bradford, but as things currently stand I wouldn’t rule anything out."

And Ukip candidate Mohammed 'Harry' Boota added: "I think she has been driven away by other people from Labour in Bradford West. That's my take. Making excuses about childcare - she knew absolutely what was required."

Local party members voted to select Mrs Ali, a councillor in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, from an all-women shortlist of three.

But her decisive victory over two local women had been a surprise to many party members, and some have suggested she hadn't expected it either.

Sources within the party say a mass of voters unexpectedly got behind Mrs Ali, swinging the result away from the favourite, former Lord Mayor Councillor Naveeda Ikram.

And Councillor Mohammed Shabbir (Ind, Heaton), who was at the hustings, said Mrs Ali had appeared "shocked and surprised" by her selection.

Cllr Ikram (Lab, Little Horton) acknowledged the news was a set-back for the campaign.

She said: "We were all geared up and ready to get behind Amina Ali. We had events and things in place."

Cllr Ikram said party members would unite behind any replacement candidate, "whether they are selected or imposed".

But she warned a replacement needed to be found as soon as possible, saying: "Time is of the essence, and time is ticking."

A Labour spokesman said the party's ruling National Executive Committee would now decide how a replacement candidate would be selected.

He said: "A new candidate for Bradford West will be selected as soon as possible who will win the seat back for Labour."

Mr Galloway snatched the seat from Labour in a shock by-election win in 2012, with the local Labour party later being accused of relying too heavily on 'biraderi', or clan-based politics.