Ex-county MP steps down

Former Shropshire MP Bruce Grocott is retiring from the Government after a career which saw him take his first step on to the ladder 33 years ago when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister.The former MP for Lichfield, Telford and The Wrekin has been Chief Whip in the Lords for the last six years. He is retiring in the reshuffle following the resignation of Peter Hain.

Lord Grocott assumed the title of Captain of the Hon Corps of Gentlemen at Arms in 2002 when Tony Blair made him Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords.

At 67 he has taken advantage of the mini-shuffle caused by Peter Hain's resignation to retire from the Government and get some respite from the long hours which go with trying to squeeze legislation through the Upper House where his party is far from having a majority.

First elected to the Commons in 1974 as MP for Lichfield and Tamworth, Bruce Grocott was swept out of Parliament in the Thatcher landslide of 1979 to spend eight years as a presenter and producer of political programmes on Central Television.

He was returned as MP for The Wrekin in 1987, switching to the Telford constituency after boundary changes 10 years later. He stood down as an MP in 2002 and was immediately made a life peer.

Lord Grocott held a series of front bench roles during his 20 years in the Commons, but eight of those years he spent inextricably linked to Mr Blair, first as his parliamentary private secretary in opposition and then in Downing Street after Labour's 1997 General Election triumph.

The headlines today are all about Mr Hain's resignation, but the quiet retirement of Bruce Grocott is just as big a loss to Gordon Brown and the Government.

By London Editor John Hipwood