Harriet Harman, feminist and moderniser, declares that Labour is now in safe hands

The former deputy leader is standing down as an MP after four decades of momentous change, writes John Rentoul

Harriet Harman, the longest continuously serving female MP (Getty Images)

Records are falling and quizzes are going to have to be rewritten. The Labour Party has asked all its MPs if they intend to stand again at the next election, still probably two and a half years away, so that it can start to choose candidates to replace them.

Hence Harriet Harman’s announcement that she will be standing down whenever Boris Johnson decides to call the election – it will soon be the prime minister’s decision again, once the repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act gains the royal assent.

This is a significant moment in the history of the Labour Party during my lifetime. Harman is the longest continuously serving female MP (although Margaret Beckett has served for longer, she was out of parliament 1979-83); was deputy leader of the party for eight years; and twice acting leader, in 2010 and 2015.