Labor MP calls time

VETERAN Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon will not contest the next election, ending his 25year politics career.

Mr Fitzgibbon has held the seat of Hunter in NSW coal country since 1996, when he took it over from his father, Eric.

After the 2019 election – in which he suffered a 14 per cent primary vote swing – Mr Fitzgibbon vowed to put “labour back in the Labor Party” and return the party to its blue-collar origins.

Mr Fitzgibbon quit the frontbench last year after warning the party risked splitting if it alienated regional voters to prioritise inner-city voters with climate policies.