John McFall MP is to stand down

After 23 years serving his constituents, John McFall the MP for West Dunbartonshire has announced he is to stand down at the General Election, in reality he is retiring, as he says, he is 65.

You can read his full statement here.

The Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire has been awarded with the unofficial title of consumer champion by Which? magazine in recognition of his efforts to improve financial services for consumers earlier this month.

John McFall was elected as the chairman of the Commons Treasury Select Committee  back in 2001, and then re-elected to the same position again in 2005.
In the wake of the major banking crisis the committee he Chairs quizzed high profile figures including Bank of England governor Mervyn King and former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin.

Although he is described as a champion, a distinguished chair and will certainly be missed by Jim Murphy, Alistair Darling, Gordon Brown and others, I do wonder why so close to the election the Labour party are losing another MP, it is now only 96 days until polling day.

This isn't just losing another MP, but John McFall is a key part of the team as Chair of a Select Committee, so is this a case of a key MP jumping before Brown's ship finally sinks on May 6?