HUGH Bayley is expected to be selected today to defend his York constituency in the next general election.

The York Labour Party is meeting at the Guildhall this evening to announce who its candidate will be.

Mr Bayley, who returned from holiday in Jamaica in time for the meeting, has been the city's MP for the past eight years.

He is also a junior minister at the department of Social Security.

If chosen today, he will be challenged by the Conservative's prospective parliamentary candidate Michael McIntyre.

Other challengers are yet to be formally announced.