Labour MP Jamie Reed stands down for nuclear energy job

Labour MP Jamie Reed has announced he will stand down in January 2017, triggering a by-election in his Copeland constituency.

The former shadow health minister is to become head of development and community relations at Sellafield nuclear power station, a role he says will enable him to "continue to help the community and industry of West Cumbria to meet the challenges of the future".

Leaving Parliament after 12 years was "the hardest decision of [my] life", he said.

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Reed has been a persistent critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and quit his role in the shadow cabinet following the leadership elections of September 2015, citing the Islington MP's opposition to nuclear energy.

However, he did not mention Corbyn in his page-and-a-half resignation letter, focussing instead on the progress made in his constituency.

He said: "Together we built, schools, town centre developments, university facilities, dental surgeries, healthcare centres and a new West Cumberland Hospital of which I am most proud."

Fellow Labour politician Liz Kendall tweeted Reed was "an amazing MP and a wonderful friend".

Reed's resignation means a new year by-election. Copeland has historically been a safe Labour seat since its creation in 1983, but current national polls suggest "it may not be invulnerable to capture by another party," says The Independent.

The Daily Telegraph goes further, suggesting the party "will struggle to hold on to the seat that voted for Brexit by 23,528 to 14,419 votes".

The statistics certainly indicate a trend away from Labour dominance. When Reed won Copeland for a third time in 2015, his 2,564 majority over Conservative Stephen Haraldsen was less than half that of his first election win in 2005.