THE KEIGHLEY Constituency is one of the “central battlegrounds” set to determine which party emerges victorious from next month’s general election, says a senior Government figure.

Secretary of State for Justice and former Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, joined Keighley Conservative candidate, Kris Hopkins, on the campaign trail in Addingham on Monday.

“The result here will determine whether Ed Miliband is in Downing Street, supported by the SNP, or whether we will have a Conservative government with David Cameron as Prime Minister,” Mr Grayling told voters.

Keighley, which includes the town of Ilkley as well as rural villages around Keighley and Ilkley, is traditionally a marginal seat.

It was held from 1997 by Labour’s Ann Cryer until 2010, when she chose not to stand for election again, and in the last term was held by Conservative, Kris Hopkins.

During his visit calling on residents of Addingham, Mr Grayling spoke in support of the Conservatives’ economic policies, which he said have seen economic improvement and a corresponding fall in unemployment.
He was Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2010 until the Cabinet reshuffle of 2012.
“Things are getting better and this is not a time for a change in management,” he said.
Mr Grayling also spoke in support of Mr Hopkins, who he described as a ‘really good local MP’ and a first-rate advocate for their area.
Mr Hopkins echoed Mr Grayling’s optimism about economic recovery and job creation, following what he described as the ‘broken economy’ taken over by the Coalition Government in 2010.
He said the Government 
needed to continue its work fixing the economy. If you look at our constituency, there have been 937 new jobs created since 2010,” he said.
Mr Grayling went on to visit Pudsey to support Conservative candidate, Stuart Andrew, who held the Pudsey constituency seat over the last term.
He praised Mr Andrew in his recent role saying he was ‘not afraid to speak out where Pudsey matters’.
 “He’s not afraid to vote against the Government when it’s in the interests of his constituents.” Other candidates for the Keithley seat are: John Grogan (Lab), Gareth Epps (LibDem), Paul Latham (Ukip) and Ros Brown (Green).  
Also fighting for Pudsey constituency are candidates: Claire Allen (Green), Ryk Downes (Lib-Dem), Jamie Hanley (Lab) and Roger Tattersall (Ukip).