THE Green Party is eyeing York as a target seat for next year’s elections after the decision of the sitting MP to stand down.

The Labour MP for York Central, Hugh Bayley, announced last week that he would not be fighting the 2015 general election.

Now the Green party’s candidate in York Central – Jonathan Tyler – said he believes the field could be clear for a Green win and his party could bump the constituency up its priority list to take advantage of the situation.

Mr Tyler, pictured, said: “Hugh has been a great constituency MP, well respected and very active within the city. I’ve always found him to be open, honest and approachable. Before being elected he was a researcher at the University in York – he was someone who had a base and a life here and was very much part of the city. He was the kind of MP York deserved, not someone parachuted in by central office.”

“But we face new challenges now, and York needs a green agenda”

Mr Bayley’s decision to stand down, and the well-documented problems of the Labour party on the city council, mean the seat is more open to other challengers, he added.

“When the Lib Dems had control of City of York Council, they gradually became more and more unpopular and Labour had a strong win in 2011.

“Now they appear to have blown it.

“With national events, and the disarray in City of York Council, anything could happen.”

The Green party has established a 12 strong list of target seats – with retaining Caroline Lucas’s seat in Brighton at the top of that list. York Central had been at the bottom of the list, but could be bumped further up the hierarchy with the uncertainty over a new Labour candidate, he added.

“There’s likely to be five candidates in York Central – the three traditional parties, UKIP, and us – which means the winner will only need 25-30 percent of the vote.

“We got 15 percent of the vote in the European elections across York – and higher than that in York Central.”