Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon has announced that he has stepped down as shadow environment secretary ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle of his top team.

Publishing his resignation letter on X (formerly Twitter), McMahon said he remained a “firm supporter of Keir” despite his decision to resign.

He added: “After a testing year I want to focus on getting my health back to full strength so that I can make a full and active contribution to the general election campaign heading towards us, and to prioritise my constituents.”

Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.

In October, the MP, who previously served as leader of Oldham Council, thanked the Royal Oldham Hospital for care he received while being treated for an infection, praising staff for their "compassion and dedication".

Due to his treatment, Mr McMahon missed the funeral of former Oldham council leader Jean Stretton, as well as a planned speech at the Co-operative Party conference, of which he is chair.

In his letter to the Labour Party leader, he said there was "still some way to go" to a full recovery from his serious illness, saying his recovery had been ‘testing’.

Follow The Oldham Times on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Threads.

In his letter, Mr McMahon clarified that he wanted to take the opportunity to step down "as the reshuffle begins this week".

A shadow cabinet reshuffle is expected to begin today, as MPs return to Parliament following summer recess.

There is some speculation that deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, whose constituency includes Failsworth, may lose some of her shadow cabinet duties.

The Oldham West and Royton MP added that he would use the additional time to serve Oldham constituents and focus on the upcoming general election campaign.

Sir Keir Starmer, in a letter also published on X, thanked Mr McMahon for his work in the shadow cabinet.

Please help support Oldham Foodbank by donating to The Oldham Times' No Hungry Kids This Summer campaign

He said he was aware Mr McMahon had faced a “number of personal challenges in addition to your frontbench work and that these have taken a personal toll”.

He added that MPs "should never have to deal with abuse or violent threats", and said he appreciated "how difficult this must have been for you and your family".

The opposition leader signed off his letter saying he looked forward to working with Mr McMahon again in the future.