UKIP leader to fight February election in threat to Labour

LONDON (AP) - The leader of the U.K. Independence Party has been chosen to contest a February election in the Labour Party stronghold of Stoke-on-Trent Central in northern England.

The choice of Paul Nuttall on Saturday is seen as an indication the right-wing UKIP party believes it can win the seat. The election is seen as a test of UKIP's plan to replace Labour as the party favored by working-class voters in northern and central England.

UKIP hopes to benefit from the region's strong desire to leave the European Union. Nuttall called Stoke-on-Trent "the capital of Brexit" because of its strong support for Brexit in the June referendum.

Despite its Brexit success, UKIP holds only one seat in Britain's Parliament.

The Feb. 23 election was triggered by the resignation of Labour's Tristram Hunt.