Stephen Hammond joins exodus of Tory MPs quitting at subsequent election
S
tephen Hammond has change into the most recent MP to substantiate they are going to name it quits on the subsequent election.
The Wimbledon MP and former minister will be a part of a Conservative exodus, with greater than 40 saying that they won’t defend their seat in an election that’s prone to happen subsequent yr.
In a letter to his native occasion affiliation on Thursday, Mr Hammond stated he would “not seek the nomination” because the Tory candidate following what he known as an “incredibly tough decision”.
He stated: “It has not been easy for me to make this decision and, despite the national picture, I do believe we can win locally.
“However, this is the right decision for Sally (his wife) and me.
“In recent years we have both been stretched by increased caring responsibilities for our elderly parents and this is unlikely to change in the coming years.”
He stated it had been the “privilege of my life” to characterize Wimbledon in Westminster for the previous 18 years.
The 61-year-old was first elected to Parliament in 2005 and was promoted to the federal government entrance benches in 2012, being handed a junior transport position by David Cameron through the coalition years earlier than dropping his place in a reshuffle two years later.
During the Brexit years, he was twice punished for rebelling towards Tory governments.
Former prime minister Theresa May sacked him as vice-chairman of the occasion in 2017 after he voted in favour of a so-called “meaningful vote” on her Withdrawal Agreement.
In September 2019, he was considered one of 21 MPs stripped of the Tory Party whip by then-prime minister Boris Johnson after they backed a plan to take management of the Commons timetable to move laws to dam a no-deal Brexit.
He and 9 others later had the whip restored following talks with Mr Johnson a month later.
Mr Hammond made an look at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, asking Rishi Sunak whether or not he would think about convening a dementia medicines taskforce to overview progress on a brand new diagnostic check and drug remedy.
With Mr Sunak’s Tories effectively behind within the polls, a bunch of senior occasion MPs have chosen to not battle for an additional time period.
Former defence secretary Ben Wallace and former cupboard ministers Dominic Raab, George Eustice, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid have all known as time on their Commons careers.