Considered a Blairite, Miss Hewitt has not held a Cabinet post under Gordon Brown. But she rose to Health Secretary under Tony Blair and forced through unpopular reforms to the National Health Service.
She claimed that her decision had nothing to do with the on-going MPs' expenses scandal.
Miss Hewitt, 60, told the Leicester Mercury: “I think that if I had decided to stay, yes, I could win the seat. But I am standing down now to give the constituency time to find the right candidate. I am confident Labour can hold Leicester West.
“I didn’t plan this. I did initially want to serve another term. But I feel the time is right. The truth is that after 13 years as an MP and 10 years in Government, I have not seen enough of my family. They have paid a high price for that.”
She said she wanted to spend more time with her husband, Bill, and children, Alex and Nick.
In a further statement today, Ms Hewitt said she would be spending more time on work and charitable activities related to India.
She takes over as chair of the UK India Business Council next month.
The MP said: "This has been a very difficult decision to make but after talking it through with my family I have decided that by the next election this will be the right thing to do for me and my family."
Miss Hewitt is the latest MP to announce their retirement since the expenses scandal broke.
It's been disclosed that her claims included £920 in legal fees when she moved out of a flat in her constituency before staying in hotels and then renting another flat in Leicester.
She also claimed for furniture, including £194 for blinds delivered to her London home.
She was elected as MP for Leicester West in 1997 and retained the seat with a majority of 9,070 at the last election in 2005 – the same majority she had in 2001.
No comments:
Post a Comment