Keswick’s Conservative MP Trudy Harrison has announced that she is to stand down at the next general election following a shake-up of constituency boundaries.
The 47-year-old won the Copeland seat in a high profile by-election in 2017 but this week said she would not be applying to stand in the new seat of Whitehaven and Workington at the next general election which is expected next year.
In a statement to constituents she described herself as “an activist at heart” and said she was someone who never sought to become a career politician.
She said that she applied to become a Conservative candidate because she wanted to tackle some particularly knotty local issues with one being the threat to the West Cumberland Hospital where she and her four daughters were born.
During her time in office she said that she had pledged to bring in further flood resilience money, in particular for the frequently flooded towns of Keswick and Egremont.
“Both are now benefiting from multi-million pound Government funding via our partners including the Environment Agency for both conventional flood defences and nature-based solutions,” she said.
During her first debate in Parliament Ms Harrison championed the good work of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) while calling for an additional Government agency for new missions.
“So I was thrilled to attend the official launch of Great British Nuclear on July 18 reaffirming the Powering Up Britain, Energy Security Plan with a re-assuring long-term commitment of 24GW of nuclear power by 2050, which would provide around a quarter of our clean electricity,” she said.
As Transport Minister she led on the Transport Decarbonisation Plan which she said will need vast generation and transmission capability upgrades to keep the country moving.
And as Environment Minister she has led on the publication and implementation of the Environmental Improvement Plan in a bid to halt the decline of species by increasing much-needed habitat, including planting more hedgerows, woodlands, grasslands and wetlands.
“We are doing this in partnership with our farmers, because 70 per cent of England is farmed,” she said. “Farmers are now able to be paid via our Environmental Land Management schemes and green finance to look after their land, while continuing to produce the highest quality food.
“In Cumbria, farms are symbolic of our cultural heritage and are utterly vital for both our economy and our environment.”
She said that she still had much work to do, with potentially a further year to 18 months left before a general election.
“I have every intention of working hard, both as a minister serving in Rishi Sunak’s Government and Copeland’s MP, until the very last day my foot will remain firmly on the throttle,” she said.
