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Amber Rudd and David Lidington among MPs to quit before election Amber Rudd embroiled in Tory spat as she stands down as MP
(about 5 hours later)
Amber Rudd and David Lidington, respectively the ex-home secretary and Theresa May’s former de facto deputy, have both announced they are among an increasing number of sitting MPs who will quit at the coming election. Amber Rudd has been embroiled in a highly public spat with Downing Street over her departure as an MP, with the party banning her from standing again for the Conservatives and then Rudd responding that Boris Johnson had offered her a safe seat only last week.
The departure of Rudd, who quit the cabinet and gave up the Conservative whip in September over Boris Johnson’s approach to Brexit, prompted a highly public spat with senior party figures. The row broke out after Rudd said she would be stepping down as an MP at the election and not standing again in her marginal seat of Hastings and Rye, where she has a majority of only 346.
Announcing her departure, Rudd said she had hoped to rejoin the party ranks but was rebuffed by Mark Spencer, the chief whip. Rudd tweeted that Johnson had asked her to stand in the election as a Tory only last week.
The departure of Lidington was notably more low-key. In a letter to his local newspaper, the Bucks Herald, the Aylesbury MP wrote: “Politics imposes a heavy cost on family and private life. That is not a complaint: people who seek elected office do so voluntarily.
“But I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to give a higher priority in terms of my time and energy, to Helen and my family who have given unstinting support to me during more than a quarter of a century in the House of Commons.”
Rudd, once tipped as a future Conservative leader, told the Evening Standard: “I’m not finished with politics, I’m just not standing at this election.” She later tweeted: “Moving on. Good luck to colleagues in forthcoming GE.”Rudd, once tipped as a future Conservative leader, told the Evening Standard: “I’m not finished with politics, I’m just not standing at this election.” She later tweeted: “Moving on. Good luck to colleagues in forthcoming GE.”
Moving on. Good luck to colleagues in forthcoming GE. Amber Rudd reveals she will not stand at next general election https://t.co/MPkxUrQa3b Announcing her departure, Rudd said she had hoped to rejoin the party ranks but was rebuffed by Mark Spencer, the chief whip, whose cutting letter to her was made public.
Rudd told the Standard she had met Johnson to make amends with him. She said she planned to meet Spencer to formally seek a return. “I’m happy to leave the House of Commons as a Conservative MP,” she said. In surrendering the whip, Spencer wrote, Rudd had made it clear that she “did not support the approach of the prime minister and did not have confidence in him”.
However, Spencer wrote to Rudd saying he was “not in a position to return the Conservative party whip to you”. “You have failed to provide me with assurances that you will not change your mind once more,” he continued.
In surrendering the whip, Spencer said to Rudd, it was “clear that you did not support the approach of the prime minister and did not have confidence in him. You have failed to provide me with assurances that you will not change your mind once more.” Having the party whip was “an honour, not a right, and as such it cannot be discarded or returned at will if it is to have any meaning”, Spencer said in the letter.
Having the party whip was “an honour, not a right, and as such it cannot be discarded or returned at will if it is to have any meaning,” Spencer wrote to Rudd, who has a majority of only 346 in her Hastings and Rye constituency. In response, Rudd tweeted that Johnson had asked her to stand in the election as a Tory only last week, potentially in the safe seat of Mid Sussex being vacated by Sir Nicholas Soames.
In return, Rudd tweeted: “Funny thing really, as just last week the PM asked me to stand in the general election. Afraid the chief whip has been briefed by the wrong ‘No 10 sources’ this morning but nonetheless I respect the decision he had been asked to make.” Funny thing really, as just last week the PM asked me to stand in the General Election.Afraid the Chief Whip has been briefed by the wrong “No 10 Sources” this morning but nonetheless I respect the decision he had been asked to make. https://t.co/Zo0ac7PERO
On Tuesday, 10 of 21 other Conservative MPs who were stripped of the whip for supporting a backbench-instigated bill seeking to block a no-deal Brexit were readmitted to the party. When she left the cabinet earlier this autumn in solidarity with Tory MPs who had the whip removed for opposing hard Brexit, Rudd condemned Johnson’s use of words such as “surrender” and “betrayal” over Brexit, warning it could incite violence against opponents.
More than 50 MPs have so far announced they will stand down at the election, already well above the 31 who did not stand again in 2017. These were both two-year parliaments. Rudd is one of a number of senior Tory moderates who are not standing again at this election, including Ken Clarke, Alistair Burt, Claire Perry and the prime minister’s brother, Jo Johnson. They were joined on Wednesday by David Lidington, a leading moderate and Theresa May’s former de facto deputy, who also said he would quit at the coming election.
More members have stood down before other elections, with 90 not standing again in 2015, and 149 in 2010. In a letter to his local newspaper, the Bucks Herald, the Aylesbury MP wrote: “Politics imposes a heavy cost on family and private life. That is not a complaint: people who seek elected office do so voluntarily.
Rudd told the Standard: “I spoke to the prime minister and had a good meeting with him a few days ago. I’m really confident of my position. I will be leaving the House of Commons on perfectly good terms with the prime minister and I want him to succeed.” “But I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to give a higher priority in terms of my time and energy, to Helen and my family who have given unstinting support to me during more than a quarter of a century in the House of Commons.”
When she left the cabinet, Rudd condemned Johnson’s use of words such as “surrender” and “betrayal” over Brexit, warning it could incite violence against opponents.
Rudd became an MP in 2010 and climbed the junior ministerial ranks before replacing Theresa May as home secretary in 2016, when May entered Downing Street. However, she was forced to resign two years later after failing to properly account for her role in the Windrush scandal about the treatment of Caribbean Britons.Rudd became an MP in 2010 and climbed the junior ministerial ranks before replacing Theresa May as home secretary in 2016, when May entered Downing Street. However, she was forced to resign two years later after failing to properly account for her role in the Windrush scandal about the treatment of Caribbean Britons.
She returned to the cabinet as work and pensions secretary later the same year, but after Johnson replaced May she appeared increasingly uncomfortable with what she said was his pursuit of a no-deal Brexit.She returned to the cabinet as work and pensions secretary later the same year, but after Johnson replaced May she appeared increasingly uncomfortable with what she said was his pursuit of a no-deal Brexit.
On Tuesday, 10 of 21 other Conservative MPs who were stripped of the whip for supporting a backbench-instigated bill seeking to block a no-deal Brexit were readmitted to the party.
But the others remained out in the cold indicating they will not be able to stand for the party, including Philip Hammond, the former chancellor, David Gauke, the former justice secretary, Oliver Letwin, former Cabinet Office minister, and Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general.
More than 50 MPs have so far announced they will stand down at the election, already well above the 31 who did not stand again in 2017. These were both two-year parliaments.
They included Stockport MP Ann Coffey, who announced she would not be standing again. The former Labour MP, who resigned from the party earlier this year and went on to help form Change UK, revealed her decision in a video to constituents on Twitter.
More MPs have stood down before other elections, with 90 not standing again in 2015, and 149 in 2010.
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