Stella Creasy has hit back at an anti-abortion party who are focusing their general election campaign on unseating her.

The Labour candidate for Walthamstow, a vocal campaigner for abortion rights, called the Christian Peoples Alliance a party which “promotes hatred in many forms”, after it emerged they were campaigning for the sitting MP’s seat.

CPA leader Sidney Cordle told the PA news agency that although the party was “concentrating” on the seat in north-east London, they are expected to stand about 30 candidates.

He added: “This time the majority are in and around London, we’ve got one person standing in Birmingham.”

It comes after Ms Creasy, who is heavily pregnant, supported efforts to bring about a change in the law to see abortion decriminalised in Northern Ireland.

She was targeted by a group calling itself the Centre For Bioethical Reform UK and a billboard poster was put up in her constituency by the group, with an image of a foetus and a link to a website called Stop Stella.

Mr Cordle said the party was working with CBR UK on the election campaign, as well as other Christian organisations who he declined to name.

He said CBR UK was “very keen” to have a candidate in the upcoming general election and had asked CPA to stand in Walthamstow, adding: “They said they would help us with the campaign.”

Deborah Longe, a 19-year-old law student, is the candidate CPA are standing in Walthamsthow.

“We have an excellent candidate who, if she’s elected, will be the youngest member of Parliament because she’s only 19,” Mr Cordle told PA.

“She’s the Greta Thunberg of abortion, she’s a young lady with passion and enthusiasm for what she believes in, and that’s why we’re putting her up.”

Referring to the CBR via an article on Twitter reported by HuffPost, Ms Creasy wrote: “This party promotes hatred in many forms-whether women’s human rights, LGBTQ rights, of Islam or the EU. They also can’t even spell Walthamstow.

“If have to crawl out hospital bed with a newborn in tow, nothing will stop me fighting their divisive politics coming to our hometown!”