WIRRAL West Tory challenger Esther McVey is selling her business to concentrate on winning the marginal Wirral West seat.

Former TV presenter Ms McVey set up her company, Winning Women, seven years ago, providing networking opportunities along with business education and assistance across Merseyside and Cheshire, later expanding to cover the North-West.

But it is now being taken over by Forward Ladies, which is expanding from the Yorkshire region to cover the north of England.

Revelations about the sale come just after Labour MP Stephen Hesford announced that for “family reasons” he would not be standing for re-election in Wirral West at the next General Election.

Mr Hesford retained the seat in 2005 with a slender majority of 1,097 votes, but boundary changes since would give the Conservatives a notional majority in the seat at the next poll.

Wirral West Labour Party now has to find another candidate for the seat, which has been held by Mr Hesford since 1997, in a bid to fight off what is expected to be a strong Conservative challenge for the constituency.

There is also a bid by Hoylake councillor and prominent local solicitor David Kirwan, who is standing as an independent candidate.

Last night, Ms McVey said she had set up the company after returning from London and working in a big corporate environment and realised she missed the opportunities it had provided – and that other businesswomen faced the same challenges.