Labor MP Kelvin Thomson to quit parliament after 'tough year'

Veteran Labor MP Kelvin Thomson will quit federal parliament at the next election.

Mr Thomson has held the Victorian seat of Wills for almost 20 years, after spending two terms in the state parliament.

"I've had a tough year personally, with a heart attack and the loss of several family members, and it is now time for me to attend to other priorities in life," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Labor leader Bill Shorten said Mr Thomson was known as a formidable campaigner and a fierce advocate for the rights and conditions of working people.

He was also a passionate advocate of renewable energy, of action on climate change and protecting the environment.

"He has remained his own man, true to the ideals and values that called him to public life more than three decades ago," Mr Shorten said in a statement.