AFTER more than three decades in office this weekend will be Sir Michael Spicer’s last as Malvern’s MP.

Following Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that a General Election will be held on Thursday, May 6, Parliament will be dissolved on Monday (April 12), bringing the curtain down on Sir Michael’s 36 years and three months as an MP.

In a farewell announcement Sir Michael said: “During that period I have been proud to serve my constituents both as a backbench member and as a minister, variously for transport, aviation, coal and electricity and housing.

“I am particularly proud to have taken through Parliament the Bill to privatise the electricity industry and for a short time to have been Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Thatcher.”

He added that he was particularly proud to assist in the campaign to have a new hospital built in Malvern, and to play a part in the passing of legislation to prevent a repeat of the massive rave that took place in 1992 on Castlemorton Common.

He also thanked Parliamentary colleagues for electing him on nine consecutive occasions as chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Party, the 1922 Committee.

Meanwhile Sir Michael declined to comment on suggestions printed in a national newspaper that he is set to retire with a £1.6m pension pot, as well as a £49,960 resettlement grant.

The Sunday Times said the MPs’ pension scheme is one of the most generous in the public sector.

Members contribute between six per cent and 10 per cent of their salary to the pension fund, which accrues up to 1/40th of a member’s final salary for each year they serve in Parliament.

The newspaper’s valuations are based on how much a member of the public would have to spend on an annuity to deliver an equivalent retirement income.