SCANDAL-hit Mersey MP Ben Chapman announced today that he will quit Westminster at the next election, saying: "The pressure on my family is too great."

The Wirral South MP - who was paid £15,000 for a "phantom mortgage" - becomes the first Labour MP to be forced out because of the expenses revelations that have engulfed parliament.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Post, Mr Chapman told of his desire not to inflict further "harm" on his local party in the key marginal seat - and continued to declare his innocence.

But he said: "The pressure is too great. I may be able to withstand it, but my family should not have to."

Ben Chapman Bio:

FORMER civil servant and diplomat Ben Chapman was the first ever Labour MP to represent Wirral South.

The seat’s hitherto dyed-in-the-wool blue voters saw him as the acceptable face of the New Labour movement.

Its previous incumbent Barry Porter had been relied upon by the Conservatives to deliver majorities of 8,000 or more.

But at a by-election in February, 1997, held after Mr Barry’s death, Chapman saw off opponent Les Byrom – the former Tory councillor in Sefton who defected to Labour last year – with a majority of more than 7,800 and a 17% swing.