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Long-serving Liverpool Labour MP Stephen Twigg has announced that he will not seek reselection for his position.

The West Derby MP has said he will not stand again at the next General Election.

In a letter to his constituents - shared with the ECHO - Mr Twigg said it has been an 'immense honour' to serve as a Labour & Co-operative MP for West Derby for the past decade.

Before moving to Liverpool, he was also a Member of Parliament for the Enfield Southgate constituency for eight years.

Mr Twigg was previously Labour's schools minister in Tony Blair's cabinet.

He made his decision after the party asked sitting MPs to indicate if they would like to seek reselection ahead of a likely General Election.

Writing to his constituents, he said: "I am not yet sure what I will do when I cease to be an MP but I am keen to have the opportunity to do something different.

"I have spent most of the past thirty years of my life as an elected representative. As I approach my mid-fifties I want to have the opportunity to take on something new.

"Since the 2016 referendum politics in this country has been dominated by Brexit. During this time, I have been able to focus on my local constituency work and on my role as Chair of the cross-party International Development Committee both of which I enjoy enormously and both of which I will really miss.

"I have learned a lot over the past twelve years since I was first selected in West Derby. I am indebted to the amazing local organisations that I work with including the North Liverpool Foodbank where I volunteer and several which have kindly made me their patron – Liverpool Kinship Carers, Merseyside Domestic Violence Services and Merseyside Motor Neurone Disease Association."

Mr Twigg said he believes in the importance of Labour remaining a 'broad church'', adding: "In West Derby we continue to have an executive reflecting that broad church – with hard-working long-standing party officers remaining in post whilst many committed and enthusiastic new members have also taken up positions. I very much hope that this open and respectful culture continues."

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He added: "I remain absolutely committed to working hard as your MP for the rest of this Parliament – whether the General Election is in two or three months’ time or two or three years’ time.

"There will, of course, be opportunities between now and the next General Election for me to thank local members for your hard work and support over the past twelve years. At this point can I just say how grateful I am to have a local party whose campaigning efforts since 2007 have elected me to Parliament three times and seen Labour’s representation on Liverpool City Council in this constituency grow from six to fifteen.

"I look forward to seeing members at events and meetings over the coming months. In the meantime, as ever, please feel free to get in touch."