[ad_1]
Sajid Javid has become the latest senior Tory declaring he will not stand at the next general election.
The former Chancellor and health secretary announced he had made the decision ‘after much reflection’.
He is the latest in a string of MPs to say they will be leaving Parliament, with Labour miles ahead in the polls. Conservative chiefs have given a deadline of Monday for sitting politicians to say if they want to stay on.
Veteran Tory MP Charles Walker, who has also said he will step down at the next election, warned that the party will ‘pay the price’ and faces 10 years in opposition.
Rishi Sunak suffered a bloody nose today as Labour boosted its majority in the Chester by-election – while the Tories recorded their worst performance in the seat for 190 years.
In the PM’s first major electoral test, local councillor Samantha Dixon emerged victorious by a 10,974 vote margin – well up on the 6,100 secured in 2019.
Although Labour was expected to win, the swing of nearly 14 per cent from the Conservatives will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street.
Keir Starmer’s MPs quickly started trolling Mr Sunak as a ‘serial loser’, although Tories said there was some comfort in their share of the vote remaining above 20 per cent.
Sajid Javid has become the latest senior Tory declaring he will not stand at the next general election
The former Chancellor and health secretary announced he had made the decision ‘after much reflection’
National polls have shown Labour leading the Tories by well over 20 points recently
Mr Javid sealed Boris Johnson’s fate when he resigned from Cabinet in the summer, with Rishi Sunak following him out of the door.
The former City banker was a candidate in the ensuing Tory leadership contest, but crashed out early. It was the second time he had failed in a bid for the top job.
In a letter to Paul Uppal, chairman of the Bromsgrove Conservative Association, the Bromsgrove MP said the decision not to stand in his fifth election was one he had ‘wrestled with for some time’.
He added: ‘I am very proud of what we have achieved for Bromsgrove District and of my work in Parliament and Government.
‘This decision will not mark the end of my Parliamentary activity, particularly for the causes I care deeply about. Nor will it impact my duties as a local MP on behalf of constituents across Bromsgrove.
‘Being the local MP and serving in Government has been the privilege of my life and I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to serve.
‘I always sought to make decisions in the national interest, and in line with my values, and I can only hope my best was sufficient.
‘I will of course continue to support my friend the Prime Minister and the people of Bromsgrove in any way I can.’
Sir Charles said the vote in Chester was a ‘sort of live fire exercise’ for the Tories’ performance in the polls.
‘We certainly weren’t going to win it,’ he told Times Radio.
‘And I think the scale of the loss reflects where we stand in the opinion polls at the moment. So, in a sense, this by-election was a sort of live fire exercise for where the opinion polls currently have us.’
Sir Charles said the Tory party is in a ‘better place’ than it was six weeks ago when Liz Truss was leading the country.
But he said he thinks it is ‘almost impossible’ for the Conservatives to come back to win the next general election.
‘Now, I hope what Rishi Sunak does is make sure Labour doesn’t wipe the floor with us, that we perhaps win 220 seats, and we form a viable opposition,’ he said.
Sir Charles said: ‘I suspect you’ll see quite a lot of people standing down as we get nearer the general election.
‘I think many of my colleagues won’t have made their minds up yet. But I think it’s inevitable.
‘I think politics is quite a gruelling vocation to be in. But many of my colleagues will be thinking look, do I want to do much more of this?
‘Do I want to go down to electoral defeat and have a sort of gruelling six week campaign? Or if they’re in really safe seats do I want to be in opposition for 10 years?’
Rishi Sunak suffered a bloody nose today as Labour boosted its majority in the Chester by-election
Local councillor Samantha Dixon emerged victorious for Labour in the Chester by-election by a 10,974 vote margin – well up on the 6,100 secured in 2019.
[ad_2]
Source link
