By james art A County Durham MP has announced she will step down as chairman of a North East charity ahead of the Autumn Budget following pressure following her vote to cut winter fuel allowance.
Blaydon and Consett MP Liz Twist, who serves as the Prime Minister’s private secretary, stepped down as chair of Age UK Gateshead on Tuesday after coming under pressure over her stance on the Winter Fuel Allowance.
At a board meeting on Tuesday evening, the government leader announced his decision to step down from the role.
Following the meeting, a statement from Ms Twist said: “I have this evening informed the Board of Trustees of Age UK Gateshead that I will be stepping down as chairman of the charity.
“I did this because of the constant pressure on the charity from a number of people.”
The charity received a number of emails from constituents regarding Ms Twist’s role as board chair.
“Age UK Gateshead is an amazing charity that does a lot of good work across the borough of Gateshead and I am proud to have supported the charity for many years in its work in practical ways, as well as being its Chair,” said Ms Twist.
“It is important to all of us that their work can continue.
“It’s not a decision I wanted to make, but it’s necessary for their work to continue.” I regret that a minority of people have chosen to bring their views around political decisions into a charitable environment where the aim is to support those who need it most.
“The values of Age UK Gateshead are still close to my heart and I will continue to work with them and all the charities that support this vision. I would like to thank CEO Ian Wolstenholme; to the staff and trustees for their amazing work supporting older people in Gateshead.
“I remain confident that this Labor government will work to improve the lives of everyone in our country and I’m excited to play my part in that.”
Ms Twist voted with the Government to cap winter fuel payments for the poorest in society, prompting calls from constituents for her to leave her role at the charity.
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(Image: Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament) One constituent took to social media to say: “Age UK had a petition to keep the winter fuel payment but our MP voted against keeping it while he was chair of Age UK Gateshead.”
On Friday, Ms Twist was forced to deny rumors she had resigned as chairman of the charity after an email purportedly circulated on social media.
The Parliamentary Private Secretary essentially acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister in government.
As Keir Starmer’s PPS, Ms Twist’s job takes her to Downing Street as the prime minister’s “eyes and ears” among backbench MPs, where she is tasked with reporting on any unease about certain government policies that is expressed by Labor deputies.