The Labour party has announced it will not 'seriously' contest the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency at the next election.

According to a recent communication to its members, the Labour Party has called the constituency a “non-battleground seat” as they begin to select their election candidates.

Update: The Labour Party have since wanted to clarify that they will contest the seat and that their candidate will be picked by early January.

Labour have never won Westmorland and Lonsdale and at the last General Election in 2019 they lost their deposit, only winning 4% of the overall vote.

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, explained that the announcement proved Labour 'know they can't win in Westmorland and Lonsdale'. 

He added: “Next year’s General Election here will be another close two-horse race between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives where every vote will count.

“That’s why I am grateful to traditional Labour and Green voters who have told me they will vote for me to stop the Conservatives from winning.”