MERSEYSIDE MP Claire Curtis-Thomas is to stand down at the next general election.

After 12 years representing Crosby, she has written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown explaining that “moribund male MPs” don’t appreciate the daily care requirements of a family.

She said it is with “great regret” that she stands down but that she is no longer prepared to walk the streets home at midnight after finishing work late.

She also highlights that making up her mind was “never an easy decision” and “the sense of privilege and pride” she has felt representing the constituency.

She wrote in her letter: “It is my home; its people have become my friends; its history and heritage I have learnt to admire, appreciate and cherish.”

Ms Curtis-Thomas, 51, was seen as one of the Blair Babes when 96 female Labour MPs stood alongside the then new Prime Minister Tony Blair, on the steps of Church House, in Westminster, in May, 1997.

She was elected to the House of Commons at her first attempt, defeating the Conservative Malcolm Thornton by 7,182 votes.

But her traditional Crosby constituency has now disappeared under new boundaries and has been succeeded by a Sefton Central seat that is a Tory - Lib Dem marginal.