Norwich North MP Ian Gibson has decided to seek re-election in his constituency at the next general election. He has informed the Norwich Labour Party, and it has to decide whether to readopt him as its candidate in the seat he has represented at Westminster since 1997, or whether to trigger a challenge to him for the nomination.

By Chris Fisher, Political editor

Norwich North MP Ian Gibson has decided to seek re-election in his constituency at the next general election.

He has informed the Norwich Labour Party, and it has to decide whether to readopt him as its candidate in the seat he has represented at Westminster since 1997, or whether to trigger a challenge to him for the nomination.

A former lecturer at the University of East Anglia, Dr Gibson is 68. If - as is expected - the next general election is held in 2009 or 2010, he will then be over 70. He also suffered a stroke two years ago while on a fact-finding mission to Israel.

For these reasons there has been speculation that he would retire at the next general election. But he told the EDP yesterday that he had decided against it.

“I would rather die with my boots on and go missing in action than crawl into early retirement and wear slippers and pantaloons”, he said.

Asked what his wife Liz thought of it, he replied: “She shrugged and said she knew I was one of those people who will never retire.”

Dr Gibson became chairman of the Commons science and technology committee in 2001. But the Labour whips engineered his loss of that position last year after he had participated in a string of high-profile rebellions on key policies.

He became the leader of the Labour opposition to student top-up fees, and did so even though it meant direct conflict with the then education secretary - his fellow Norwich MP Charles Clarke.

After Mr Clarke moved to the Home Office in 2004, Dr Gibson proceeded to vote against some salient features of his counter-terrorism legislation, and relations between them became openly strained.

Despite involvement in hard-left politics with the SWP in his early years in politics, Dr Gibson has succeeded in winning the backing of significant numbers of voters who aren't natural Labour supporters, and has comfortably held the seat he won from the Conservatives nine years ago.

His majority in last year's election was almost 5500. And boundary changes - that will remove Drayton and Taverham - are expected to make it a considerably better seat for Labour at the next election.