Frank Field to fight Labour for Merseyside seat at next election
Mr Field sits as an independent after resigning the Labour whip last year, citing anti-Semitism and “nastiness” in the party.
The 77-year-old has been MP for Birkenhead in Merseyside since 1979 and is one of the longest-serving MPs in the Commons. Mr Field said he would fight the next election – currently due in 2022 – as the Birkenhead Social Justice candidate.
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Hide AdSpeaking outside Birkenhead town hall, he said: “Mark Twain would have said my political death has been much exaggerated... I will be standing again as a candidate at the next election with the aim of doing what I have done for 40 years: always putting the interests of our town and our country first while championing the views and interests of the underdogs in our society.”
![Veteran MP Frank Field. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo](https://www.scotsman.com/webimg/legacy_elm_78574505.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Veteran MP Frank Field. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo](/img/placeholder.png)
He was forced to move interviews inside Birkenhead town hall after a man began to remonstrate with him about a local Labour party row.
Mr Field, who chairs the work and pensions select committee, held the seat for Labour with a majority of over 25,500 and a vote share of almost 77 per cent in 2017.
Labour said: “The people of Birkenhead voted for a Labour MP in 2017 with a near-10 per cent increase in vote share, and deserve a Labour MP again.”