Leicester West MP to take leave to spend time with baby

MP Liz Kendall will be taking a temporary step back from her parliamentary duties in the new year as she is to be a mother.

Ms Kendall, 50, has served as Labour MP for Leicester West since May 2010.

She said she and her partner felt "unbelievably lucky" and they were "eternally grateful to our surrogate for making this possible".

During the time away her office would remain open for constituents, she confirmed.

Ms Kendall currently serves as the shadow minister for social care.

She said: "My partner and I are delighted to announce that we will be having a baby in the new year through surrogacy.

"It has been a really difficult time getting here, so we feel unbelievably lucky and happier than we ever imagined.

"We will be eternally grateful to our surrogate for making this possible."

Ms Kendall has served as the MP since replacing Patricia Hewitt who had held the seat for 13 years.

In the 2019 general election, she kept her seat with 17,291 votes (49.7%), beating the Conservative candidate by 4,212 votes.