Steve Rotheram has confirmed he will stand down as a Member of Parliament.
The Liverpool City Region’s incoming Metro Mayor represented the Walton constituency as a politician for seven years following his 2010 election.
He was successfully re-elected at the 2015 General Election, increasing the Labour party’s majority to make it one of their safest seats in the country.
But in the wake of the historic vote which saw him become the inaugural leader of the Liverpool City Region, Mr Rotheram will relinquish his duties as an MP.
He said: “In 2010 – beyond my wildest dreams – as I was elected to represent the Liverpool Walton constituency and was delighted to improve my majority in the 2015 General Election.
“I have always given 100% to the task of representing the area I both live and feel honoured to represent.
“It has been the privilege of my life to speak up for the people of Walton in Parliament.
“Over the last few weeks, since the announcement of the snap General Election, I have spoken with numerous people to try to ensure that they understand the depth of feeling that a local candidate should be chosen to succeed me – just as my predecessor did when I was selected in 2010.
“I believe that the failure of the Labour Party to allow local representation on the panels to select candidates is a significant misjudgement.
“I have tried my utmost to convince the powers that be that the most acceptable solution would be a local representative on the ballot paper to succeed me as the next Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton, given that there are potentially some high calibre candidates of which to select.
“Hopefully that may still be the outcome because I have today informed the General Secretary of the Labour Party that I will not be contesting the General Election on June 8 2017 as I need to concentrate my full attention on the job at hand as the first ever Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Constituency Labour Party Chair and Executive for their support over the last seven years and my constituents for the confidence they have shown in me as their voice in Westminster.
“I wish my successor, whoever that may be, the very best in the forthcoming contest.”
Labour’s National Executive Committee will now choose their preferred candidate to represent the party in Walton at next month’s snap General Election.
Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, has already revealed his ambitions to become a Parliamentary politician as Mr Rotheram’s potential successor.
Euro MP Theresa Griffin and the party’s former special adviser Daniel Hughes are also expected to place themselves in the running ahead of Thursday’s deadline.