Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has announced his plans to stand down as an MP.

Bradshaw, who has served as Exeter’s member of parliament for 25 years, he said it was  “with considerable sadness” that he had decided not to stand at the next general election. 

A former Culture secretary and health minister Mr Bradshaw, first stood for election successfully in 1997 after a high-profile career in radio journalism.

“There is never a perfect time to step down in politics and the exact timing is determined by the electoral cycle,” Bradshaw explained to local newspaper Devon Live.

“But I will be 62 this year. 

“If I fought the next election and won, I could be pushing 70 by the end of the next parliament. “With my party now in good hands under Keir Starmer’s leadership and in excellent shape locally in Exeter, the time feels right to pass the baton on.”

Bradshaw was previously a member of the Cabinet under Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.  Before that he was Minister of State at the Department of Health and Minister for the South West.

Bradshaw supported Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.  He supported Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election.

Previously he piloted a Private Member’s bill, the Pesticides bill, through the House of Commons. The bill became law in 1998.

Bradshaw was born in 1960 and educated at Thorpe St Andrew School, Norwich. He studied German and Italian at Sussex University and the Freiburg University in Germany.

A keen cyclist, he lives in Exeter and London with his husband, Neal.