An anti-abortion party will centre its entire general election campaign on a bid to oust Stella Creasy, it has emerged.
The Christian Peoples Alliance will focus almost exclusively on trying to oust the heavily-pregnant Labour candidate, who spearheaded successful Westminster efforts to decriminalise terminations in Northern Ireland.
The CPA, which is strongly against equal marriage and abortion, expects to stand about 30 candidates, the majority of which will be in London, party leader Sidney Cordle told HuffPost UK.
“We will standing in other areas but we will be focusing our campaign on Walthamstow in particular,” he said. “I’m the leader and I will be leading the campaign there.
“We will be working with other Christian groups.”
It comes after Creasy accused anti-abortion campaigners of harassment after graphic advertisements featuring an unborn foetus were posted around Walthamstow, which she then represented as a Labour MP.
The ads were put there by activists from the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK (CBR UK), and were posted on a billboard, bus stops, and a phone box around Walthamstow.
It is not thought the CPA will be working with the group.
The CPA candidate for the safe Labour seat is law student Deborah Longe.
The party has previously been accused of Islamophobia after one of its councillors called a bishop “courageous” – for saying a global resurgence of Islamic extremism was turning “already separate communities into ‘no-go’ areas”.
Creasy told HuffPost UK that the CPA was guilty of “toxic attempts to divide”, adding: “The CPA have a track record of promoting hate in their campaigns – whether their views of Islam, same sex marriage or the rights of women – and it appears from their stance in Walthamstow they intend to continue to do so here.
“I may be heavily pregnant but I can promise residents that won’t stop me fighting tooth and nail to protect my hometown from such toxic attempts to divide us, whether they happen during an election or not, as I’m proud to be part of a community that values and celebrates diversity and equality.”
The party has consistently contested elections to the London Assembly but failed to gain any seats.
Longe said she was standing as she felt it was “important to protect the life of the unborn child”.
HuffPost UK asked Sidney Cordle for a list of where the CPA was standing candidates but he refused to share it.