Chuka Umunna announces engagement to girlfriend Laura Sullivan with advert placed in The Times

The MP dropped out the Labour leadership race to focus on his personal life

Labour MP Chuka Umunna is one of a number of MPs from his party backing electoral reform (Getty Images)

Former shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna has announced his engagement to his girlfriend Alice Sullivan in today’s Times.

Umunna said he wanted to focus on his life outside politics when he withdrew from the Labour leadership race just three days after announcing he would stand.

Reports at the time suggested heightened press intrusion into his personal life, with Umunna saying he had “very real concerns” about the “scrutiny and attention” he was receiving.

Sullivan is an employment lawyer at the firm Lewis Silkin. The Times reports that her parents took out the announcement in consultation with Umunna.

The MP said that the focus on his personal life had been difficult.

“I felt terrible about it. My family is incredibly important and precious. I’ve said that I could live without leading the Labour party, or [without] politics. For once I decided to put the rest of my life first," he said.

The announcement comes after Olympic diver Tom Daley used the paper to reveal he had got engaged to his partner Dustin Lance Black.