Labour MP Harriet Harman to stand down at next election

Veteran Labour MP Harriet Harman has announced she will stand down at the next general election.

She revealed her decision in an email to her local party in Camberwell and Peckham on Tuesday morning after almost 40 years as their MP.

She promised to "work energetically" until the next polling day.

But Ms Harman said she would then leave the Commons "now confident that Labour is gaining strength under the leadership of Keir Starmer".

The 71-year-old became an MP in 1982 and has held a raft of posts in the party - including two brief stints as leader after Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband stepped down.

She served as deputy leader for both men, but is perhaps better known for her feminist campaigning in Parliament and as Mother of the House - the woman with the longest continuous service in the Commons.