A string of British MPs have announced they are stepping down since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the date of the general election, joining the more than 100 who had already announced their decision to leave parliament.
On Tuesday, several London Labour MPs said they would not be seeking re-election, including John Cryer, MP for Leyton and Wanstead and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party since 2015; Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall, and Lyn Brown, MP for West Ham.
That came a day after Conservative MP Lucy Allan, who had announced last summer she would not be standing in the general election, was suspended by the party after endorsing the candidate for the right-wing Reform UK party.
Ms Allan, 59, who was Conservative MP for Telford, said on social media she was supporting Reform's Alan Adams to be the constituency's next MP.
A Conservative Party representative said she had been suspended from the party with "immediate effect" and that "a vote for Reform is a vote for [opposition Labour leader] Keir Starmer".
Her endorsement marked another setback for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has been on the campaign trail since calling a general election last week. Dozens of Conservative MPs have already said they will not be standing in the July 4 general election, including John Redwood, who ran for the party leadership in 1995 when he challenged John Major.
The former minister, a Eurosceptic who was first elected in Wokingham in 1987, announced on Friday that he has decided not to contest his seat on July 4 and said: “I have other things I wish to do.”
A Conservative MP was celebrated in the House of Commons as he returned to work after losing his hands and feet to sepsis has also said he would decline to seek re-election.
On September 28, Craig Mackinlay was taken to hospital and put into a 16-day induced coma, with his wife told he had only a 5 per cent chance of survival.
MPs from both sides of the chamber welcomed Mr Mackinlay as he returned last week for the first time since the amputation.
However, the South Thanet MP said after “36 hours of intense soul searching” following Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a July 4 poll, he has decided to quit.
Mr Sunak’s decision to call a July 4 election surprised many in Westminster who had been expecting an autumn poll.
Last Thursday, the first day of the general election campaign, Transport Minister Huw Merriman and Work and Pensions Minister Jo Churchill said they were not seeking re-election.
Their announcements means the list of MPs elected as Conservatives in 2019 who are not seeking re-election now stands at more than 75, based on a House of Commons tally.
A total of 127 MPs are stepping down at the next general election, surpassing the average of 85 who stood down at elections between 1979 and 2019.
It is also approaching the largest number recorded in recent history, in 2010, when 149 MPs stepped down, 100 of whom were Labour party members.
More than two thirds of the MPs announcing they will not seek re-election are Conservatives – the most from the party to leave Parliament since 1997.
They include Nadhim Zahawi, the former chancellor and education secretary, who said he pinches himself every day as he thinks: “How is it that boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have?”
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey, former prime minister Theresa May and former Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis will also leave.
Other notable names include former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab, former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, former health secretary Matt Hancock and former defence secretary Ben Wallace.
Former ministers Harriet Harman and Margaret Hodge, as well as current deputy speaker Rosie Winterton are among the Labour MPs to announce they are stepping down.
Those from other parties include Ian Blackford, former leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster.
The Conservatives are currently about 20 points behind Labour in the polls.
Conservative MPs stepping down
– Adam Afriyie, Windsor
– Nickie Aiken, Cities of London and Westminster
– Lucy Allan, Telford
– Stuart Andrew, Pudsey
– Richard Bacon, South Norfolk
– John Baron, Basildon & Billericay
– Paul Beresford, Mole Valley
– Graham Brady, Altrincham & Sale West
– Steve Brine, Winchester
– Andy Carter, Warrington South
– Bill Cash, Stone
– Jo Churchill, Bury St Edmunds
– Greg Clark, Tunbridge Wells
– Chris Clarkson, Heywood & Middleton
– Tracey Crouch, Chatham & Aylesford
– Dehenna Davison, Bishop Auckland
– Jonathan Djanogly, Huntingdon
– James Duddridge, Rochford & Southend East
– Philip Dunne, Ludlow
– Michael Ellis, Northampton North
– Natalie Elphicke, Dover (defected to Labour but announced she will not be standing as a Labour candidate)
– George Eustice, Camborne & Redruth
– David Evennett, Bexleyheath and Crayford
– Mike Freer, Finchley & Golders Green
– Nick Gibb, Bognor Regis & Littlehampton
– Jo Gideon, Stoke-on-Trent Central
– Robert Goodwill, Scarborough & Whitby
– Michael Gove, Surrey Heath
– Chris Grayling, Epsom & Ewell
– James Grundy, Leigh
– Robert Halfon, Harlow
– Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon
– Trudy Harrison, Copeland
– Oliver Heald, North-east Hertfordshire
– James Heappey, Wells
– Chris Heaton-Harris, Daventry
– Gordon Henderson, Sittingbourne & Sheppey
– John Howell, Henley
– Alister Jack, Dumfries & Galloway
– Sajid Javid, Bromsgrove
– David Jones, Clwyd West
– Greg Knight, East Yorkshire
– Kwasi Kwarteng, Spelthorne
– Eleanor Laing, Epping Forest
– Pauline Latham, Mid-Derbyshire
– Andrea Leadsom, South Northamptonshire
– Brandon Lewis, Great Yarmouth
– Tim Loughton, East Worthing and Shoreham
– Theresa May, Maidenhead
– Craig McKinlay, South Thanet
– Stephen McPartland, Stevenage
– Huw Merriman, Bexhill and Battle
– Kieran Mullan, Crewe and Nantwich
– Bob Neill, Bromley & Chislehurst
– Matthew Offord, Hendon
– Mark Pawsey, Rugby
– Mike Penning, Hemel Hempstead
– Andrew Percy, Brigg & Goole
– Dan Poulter, Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (defected to Labour but not standing again)
– Will Quince, Colchester
– Dominic Raab, Esher & Walton
– John Redwood, Wokingham
– Nicola Richards, West Bromwich East
– Douglas Ross, Moray
– Paul Scully, Sutton and Cheam
– Alok Sharma, Reading West
– Chloe Smith, Norwich North
– Henry Smith, Crawley
– Royston Smith, Southampton Itchen
– Gary Streeter, Devon South West
– Edward Timpson, Eddisbury
– Charles Walker, Broxbourne
– Robin Walker, Worcester
– Ben Wallace, Wyre & Preston North
– Jamie Wallis, Bridgend
– Craig Whittaker, Calder Valley
– Nadhim Zahawi, Stratford-on-Avon
The following MPs, formerly Conservative but now sitting as independents, are also standing down:
– Crispin Blunt, Reigate
– Matt Hancock, West Suffolk
– Julian Knight, Solihull
– Mark Menzies, Fylde
– Bob Stewart, Beckenham
– William Wragg, Hazel Grove
Other independent MPs stepping down
– Nick Brown, Newcastle Upon Tyne East
– Conor McGinn, St Helens North
– Jeffrey Donaldson, Lagan Valley
Labour MPs stepping down
– Margaret Beckett, Derby South
– Paul Blomfield, Sheffield Central
– Ben Bradshaw, Exeter
– Kevin Brennan, Cardiff West
– Lyn Brown, West Ham
– Karen Buck, Westminster North
– Jon Cruddas, Dagenham and Rainham
– John Cryer, Leyton and Wanstead
– Alex Cunningham, Stockton North
– Wayne David, Caerphilly
– Julie Elliott, Sunderland Central
– Colleen Fletcher, Coventry North-east
– Yvonne Fovargue, Makerfield
– Margaret Greenwood, Wirral West
– Harriet Harman, Camberwell and Peckham
– Margaret Hodge, Barking
– George Howarth, Knowsley
– Kevan Jones, North Durham
– Barbara Keeley, Worsley and Eccles South
– Holly Lynch, Halifax
– Ian Mearns, Gateshead
– Christina Rees, Neath
– Virendra Sharma, Ealing, Southall
– Barry Sheerman, Huddersfield
– John Spellar, Warley
– Alan Whitehead, Southampton Test
– Rosie Winterton, Doncaster Central
SNP MPs stepping down
– Mhairi Black, Paisley and Renfrewshire South
– Ian Blackford, Ross, Skye and Lochaber
– Lisa Cameron, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (defected to the Conservatives but stepping down)
– Douglas Chapman, Dunfermline and West Fife
– Angela Crawley, Lanark and Hamilton East
– Patrick Grady, Glasgow North
– Peter Grant, Glenrothes
– Stewart Hosie, Dundee East
– John McNally, Falkirk
– Philippa Whitford, Central Ayrshire
Sinn Fein MPs stepping down
– Micky Brady, Newry and Armagh
– Michelle Gildernew, Fermanagh and South Tyrone
– Francie Molloy, Mid Ulster
Green MPs stepping down
– Caroline Lucas, Brighton Pavilion
Plaid Cymru MPs stepping down
– Hywel Williams, Arfon
