Rosie Cooper – 2022 Statement Standing Down as MP for West Lancashire

The statement made by Rosie Cooper, the Labour MP for West Lancashire, on 30 November 2022.

I have today stood down as MP for West Lancashire to take up the role as Chairman of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Representing West Lancashire in Parliament for the past 17 years has been the greatest honour of my lifetime. I am immensely grateful for the confidence that my constituents placed in me, across 5 elections, to be their voice in Westminster.

I leave with a heavy heart, knowing that despite my efforts to distance myself from events in the past, the choice of broadcasters to re-tell this story is out of my control. I hope in the future, production companies will be more considerate of the effect that these programmes and the publicity campaign surrounding them, will have on the victims of crimes regardless of how public that crime was.

I am, however, thrilled to be moving on to a new role within the NHS. Protecting and improving the health service has always been a great passion of mine. I am taking up this responsibility at a time when the challenges facing the NHS have never been more apparent.