Bradford West Labour MP Marsha Singh quits

Mr Singh was elected in 1997, the the year of Tony Blair’s first victory. His seat has been in Labour hands since 1974 and he is its longest-serving MP

Mr Singh said: “This is a sad day for me. I have been extremely proud to represent the people of Bradford West for the last fifteen years. I’m passionate about Bradford; it is where I grew up and where my children were born, so it has been a great privilege to be asked by the electorate at four general elections to be their voice in Parliament.

“I have been suffering with serious health problems for some months now. I have had wonderful treatment from our fantastic NHS doctors and nurses here in Bradford. But it has become clear that it is going to take much longer than I’d expected to recover.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “He is doing the right thing by listening to the doctors - his priority now has to be to concentrate on regaining his health - and I wish him all the best on his long road to recovery.”

Mr Singh, 57, was re-elected with a large majority of 18,401 in the 2010 general election.

Since 1997, he has been a member of the home affairs and international development select committees and was briefly a parliamentary aide to then Home Office minister Phil Woolas during the last Labour government.