COPELAND MP Trudy Harrison has announced she will stand down from her ministerial post, to spend her last few months as an MP 'devoted solely' to her constituency.

Mrs Harrison, who serves as a junior minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, announced back in July that she would not stand at the next election, having served as Copeland MP since 2017.

She was appointed a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September last year and announced her resignation today, November 14.

Prior to that, she held the roles of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and Parliamentary Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mrs Harrison said it has been the 'greatest honour and experience' of her life serving under four Prime Ministers, but she plans to spend her final months in office dedicated to her constituency.

In a statement Trudy Harrison MP said: "Serving in Government under four Prime Ministers, across many departments has been the greatest honour and experience of my life.

"As my constituents will know, I shall not be standing at the next General Election and amidst the changes today I have decided to devote my final months solely to Copeland’s priorities without the distraction of ministerial duties, I shall therefore be standing down as Defra’s Environment Minister.

"I would like to recognise the enormous efforts and talents of all those I have had the pleasure of working alongside, in particular my Private Office and the Defra family, the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the JNCC - the agencies that I have been responsible for.

"Publishing the Environmental Improvement Plan, being able to build on the Environment Act, increasing tree and hedgerow planting, supporting the woodland and forestry industries and spending my days working for the benefit of nature are the highlights I shall treasure forever.

"The knowledge I have gained will be put to good use on the back benches, where I will continue to support the Prime Minister, and my colleagues across Parliament."