Tristram Hunt becomes latest Labour MP to QUIT amid Corbyn's dire performance

Tristram Hunt has change into the newest Labour MP to give up parliament amid distress over Jeremy Corbyn's dire efficiency.

The former shadow schooling secretary is standing down as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central to take up a job operating the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

His shock resolution comes simply weeks after Copeland MP Jamie Reed introduced he was additionally resigning - and units up one other crunch by-election.

Satirically, the appointment to the £150,000-a-year publish - double a backbencher's wage - was rubber-stamped by Prime Minister Theresa Could. 

The previous Shadow Training Secretary is standing down as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central to take up a job operating the Victoria and Albert Museum

It will likely be a significant headache for Mr Corbyn, as Labour now faces a three-way battle to hold on to the seat.

Mr Hunt, a trenchant critic of Mr Corbyn who give up the Labour frontbench when he turned chief, had a 5,100 majority over Ukip in 2015. 

However the Tories got here in a detailed third and will mount a major problem.  

Underneath boundary adjustments deliberate for the 2020 normal election, the seat is being successfully abolished - which means that whoever wins it might want to discover a new berth. 

The announcement caps a dismal week for Mr Corbyn which bolstered the sense of despair amongst Labour MPs.

On Tuesday the chief's try at a New Yr relaunch descended into an entire shambles when he bungled a much-needed clarification of Labour's coverage on immigration.

He additionally stunned his personal aides by unveiling a coverage for a nationwide most wage - earlier than embarrassingly abandoning the concept hours later after it was branded 'idiotic' by economists.

Former Shadow House Secretary Andy Burnham can also be standing right down to be Labour's candidate for mayor of Larger Manchester, whereas Steve Rotheram - Mr Corbyn's parliamentary aide - is resigning his Liverpool Walton seat in his bid to change into mayor of town.

Reasonable Labour MPs voiced disappointment at Mr Hunt's transfer, whereas Tories and Ukip stated it was extra proof of the chaos engulfing Labour.

Deputy chief Tom Watson stated: 'I'm disillusioned to see a proficient MP like Tristram step down. 

'His departure will likely be keenly felt by Parliament and by the Labour Occasion however I do know he'll proceed to champion Stoke-on-Trent's proud industrial heritage in his new position on the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

'The Labour occasion will transfer swiftly to make sure Stoke on Trent Central continues to be represented by a robust and succesful Labour MP.' 

In his resignation letter to Mr Corbyn, Mr Hunt stated he had no need to 'rock the boat' within the Labour Occasion.

Shadow well being secretary Jonathan Ashworth voiced sorrow at Mr Hunt's departure, whereas Tory minister Gavin Barwell stated it might cement the 'heard left's management' of Labour and former Ukip chief Nigel Farage stated the occasion was 'doomed'

Mr Hunt has been a trenchant critic of Jeremy Corbyn (seen throughout his shambolic try at a New Yr relaunch this week) and give up the entrance bench when he turned chief of the occasion

However he made clear that he had been 'annoyed' with the route through which it had been going.

'The frustration, after all, got here with the shortcoming to deal with these elements and implement our coverage programme following our defeat in 2015 – and, extra broadly, about how the Labour occasion ought to reply to the social, cultural and financial forces which have rocked mainstream social democratic and socialist events from India to Greece to America,' he stated.

'There have been only a few jobs that might have satisfied me to face down as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, however the publish of Director of the V&A – the world's best museum of artwork, design and efficiency – is simply that.

Fellow Labour MP Stephen Kinnock stated the resignation was a 'large loss', whereas Tony Blair's former spin physician Alastair Campbell stated many MPs feared Labour was 'going nowhere' beneath Mr Corbyn

'It brings collectively all my lifetime passions of schooling, historic scholarship, meshing previous with current, and public engagement.

'It additionally continues my reference to this glorious metropolis because of town's because of the V&A's possession of the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston.

'The historical past of design, craftsmanship and know-how which I've been taught by so a lot of you, in conversations in entrance rooms and pot banks throughout North Staffordshire, will serve me effectively in my new job.' 

 

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