WIRRAL West MP Margaret Greenwood has announced that she will not be standing as a candidate in the next General Election.

The Labour MP confirmed the decision not to stand again was made "after a great deal of thought", adding that she would "continue to work on behalf of Wirral West residents up until the next general election".

The former English teacher has represented her constituency continuously since May 2015, winning the seat from the Conservative Party when she defeated Esther McVey MP. 

She was comfortably re-elected to Wirral West in 2017 with the highest winning vote share since the seat was first up for election in 1983

Before becoming an MP, Ms Greenwood, 64, was a health campaigner and founder member of Defend our NHS, a Merseyside-based campaign group which was originally formed in 2011 to oppose the Health and Social Care Bill.

Between October 2016 and March 2018, she served as Shadow Employment Minister. Prior to this, she was Parliamentary Private Secretary to two former Shadow Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions, Debbie Abrahams MP and Owen Smith MP. 

From March 2018 to 2020, she was Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

She has recently spoken in parliament about a series of planning appeals on green belt land.

Ms Greenwood's statement read: "After a great deal of thought, I have decided that I will not put myself forward to stand to be a Member of Parliament at the next general election.

"It has been a great honour and a privilege to serve the people of Wirral West as their Member of Parliament since May 2015. I am grateful for all the support that I have received, both from the local community and from Labour Party members.

"I will continue to work on behalf of Wirral West residents up until the next general election".