Labour MP Rosie Cooper will stand down from her seat in the West Lancashire constituency this autumn, after taking on a new role with the NHS.
Cooper was first elected as the Labour Party MP for West Lancashire in 2005, being re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 8,336.
The seat of West Lancashire is found in the very bottom left hand corner of Lancashire and covers the towns of Skelmersdale, Burscough and Ormskirk. The seat contains a number of Manchester and Liverpool commuters, alongside the more traditionally working class town of Ormskirk.
This area was narrowly held by the Conservatives in the 1980s but in recent years has lent far more heavily to Labour, having been held by the party consistently since 1992.
Cooper said it had been “an incredible honour and privilege” to serve in the Commons since 2005, and acknowledged her departure would “come as a surprise to many people” given she had recently been reselected to stand at the next general election.
She also added that she was “very sad that my time in West Lancashire has come to an end” and added that she would become chair of Mersey Care NHS foundation trust.
A few years ago, a man accused of being part of a neo-Nazi group was found guilty of plotting to murder her with a replica Roman sword.
Cooper said she had taken a “considerable period of soul-searching and reflection” before applying for the new role adding: “The events I have faced over the last few years are well documented and undoubtedly have taken their toll.”
Her statement did not confirm when exactly she would step down from parliament, but when this moment comes, a by-election will be triggered in the north-west England seat.
Labour’s performance at the local elections in May and its retaking of a “red wall” seat in Wakefield arguably stands them in good stead to be successful in this by-election. Nevertheless, the contest will still be viewed as a test of Liz Truss’s ability as prime minister to turn the tables around for her party who have remained stagnant in the polls since last December.
