REDDITCH MP Karen Lumley will not be standing in the General Election.

The shock announcment comes after Mrs Lumley, speaking exclusively to the Advertiser in April, confirmed that she would be standing for re-election.

In a statement released tonight she says the u-turn is due to "ill health".

She said: “Redditch has been my home for nearly 20 years and it has been a huge honour to have represented its great people for the past seven.

“Sadly due to ill health I have decided not to stand for re-election. There is nothing more important or rewarding than helping people, however I need to be fully fit to be able to undertake the job properly.

“I am immensely grateful to all the fantastic people I have met during my time as a Member of Parliament and want to say a huge thank you for all of their support."

She added: “Redditch deserves strong and stable leadership. Every vote for Theresa May and your local Conservative on 8 June will strengthen our hand in negotiations to get the best possible deal for Brexit and beyond, leaving Britain stronger and better off for the future.”

The MP had a surgical procedure in October 2016 and following this was unable to carry out much of her parliamentary work until Christmas, and did not start carrying out constituency visits and meetings until late November.

She then suffered a health relapse in January.

It was not until the start of April that she began to undertake parliamentary and constituency work.

More to follow.