The chairman of the Commons’ Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee, Iain Wright, has announced he is stepping down as an MP.
In a statement posted on his Twitter account, the Labour MP said he will not be standing for re-election in the general election on 8 June and added it “has been an enormous privilege to serve my home town in Parliament”.
“I have now been an MP for nearly a third of my life,” he added. “I would like to do other things and now is a good opportunity to do so.
“I would like to thank my constituents for giving me the honour of allowing me to be their member of Parliament since 2004.”
Since entering Parliament, Wright has been a member of the influential public accounts and modernisation committees.
Wright has also held various roles both in government and opposition, including parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Communities and Local Government.
He was elected chair of Parliament’s Business, Innovation and Skills committee in 2015 and in October 2016, the committee was expanded to become the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee, mirroring the new Whitehall department.
The current BEIS secretary, Greg Clark is appearing before the select committee this morning, and will be questioned about energy prices and the impact of Brexit on energy and climate change policy.
Climate change minister, Nick Hurd, and energy minister, Jesse Norman, are also due to appear.