Harriet Harman to step down after 40 years in Parliament | Harriet Harman

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Harriet Harman, a former deputy Labor Party leader, has said she will step down in the next election after nearly 40 years in Parliament.

The mother of the house – the title given to the MP with the longest running service – said she felt she could now move in from the House of Commons with renewed faith in her party’s future.

Harman, 71, was elected MP for Camberwell and Beckham for the first time in 1982.

In an email to voters, she said: “I feel I can leave the House of Commons now confident that Labor is gaining strength under Keir Starmer and the new team he has appointed.

“It is an honor to be a Member of Parliament representing and working for the people of Camberwell and Peckham for nearly 40 years.”

Harman served as Acting Leader of the Labor Party in 2015 and Deputy Leader from 2007 to 2015. Under Tony Blair, she was Secretary of State for Social Security and the first Minister of Women’s Affairs. She has run 10 general elections, under the leadership of seven prime ministers and eight leaders of the Labor Party.

She said she had “joined the House of Commons as one of the 11 Labor MPs in Parliament with a ratio of 97% to be men. There are now 104 Labor women and in all parties women parliamentarians constitute a ‘critical bloc'”.

But she said, “There is still a lot to be done for women honestly to share political power with men on an equal footing and for women to be equal in this country. I will leave the House of Commons living with a feminist, my faith in the Labor Party and my enthusiasm for politics.”

Harman said in her email that she remains very proud of the Labor government’s achievements, citing the national minimum wage, confirmed starting positions, the Equality Act and Investment in Education and the NHS.

Two other Labor MPs, Barry Sherman and Dame Margaret Hodge, also announced their plans to step down in the upcoming general election.

It is understood that the party has asked MPs to inform them if they intend to step down, so that it can start preparing for new candidates.

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