Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood has paid tribute to her constituents, as she formally stepped down from parliament.
The MP has represented our area since 2015, when she defeated the sitting Conservative MP Esther McVey by just 500 votes.
She strengthened the majority to over 3,000 at the 2019 poll, but announced this time last year that she would not be standing at the next election.
In a letter to constituents, she said she is “deeply grateful for the trust placed in me”, and thanked the “thousands” of people who had written to her during her time in office.
She added: “It has been an absolute privilege to meet so many extraordinary people and organisations who work to improve the lives of others.”
Her parliamentary career has included a period as Shadow Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, and shadow minister for schools.
Ms Greenwood resigned from the shadow cabinet in 2020 to vote against a bill which would have authorised police officers and some government officials to commit criminal offences, in contravention of the Labour whip which ordered its MPs to abstain.
Locally, she was a vocal critic of the controversial and ultimately ill-fated Hoylake Golf Resort, and also campaigned against the inclusion of green belt in the new local plan as well as underground coal gasification.
Changes to the parliamentary constituency boundaries has seen the constituency expanded to take in Heswall, Thornton Hough, Brimstage and Raby Mere for the forthcoming poll.
We’ll be taking a look at the candidates contesting the seat on Thursday 4 July in the near future.
