A Whopping SEVENTY-FIVE MPs Are Quitting Parliament – Read The Full List Here

Seventy-five Members of Parliament have already announced that they will be standing down before the next General Election – meaning that Britain’s political scene will wave goodbye to many familiar faces in under six month’s time. Is your MP among them?

MPs deciding not to stand again isn’t something new. In fact, 74 MPs chose not stand for re-election at the 2019 General Election, and although that number was high compared with 2017, an average of 87 MPs stood down from the House of Commons at general elections between 1979 and 2010. These figures include MPs that were not selected by their party to stand at the next election.

This time around, however, it appears that far more are choosing to take the leap back into civil life of their own volition. From Tories disgruntled with the ousting of Boris and the likelihood of being voted out at the next GE, to MPs simply wanting to spend more time with their families, the biggest names among those who have already announced their imminent retirement from politics is as follows (you can read a full list by clicking here):

Ben Wallace (CONSERVATIVE)

Ben Wallace was appointed defence secretary by Boris Johnson in 2019 and remained in the role when Johnson was ousted from Downing Street by his own party, in a move they may soon come to regret.

The announcement he is stepping down at the next election came after rumours he had tried and failed to become the next leader of NATO, with U.S. President Joe Biden rumoured to favour EU bigwig Ursula Von Der Leyen for the position.

“I went into politics in the Scottish parliament in 1999. That’s 24 years. I’ve spent well over seven years with three phones by my bed,” he told The Times.

Dominic Raab (CONSERVATIVE)

Former justice secretary and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab is currently the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton in Surrey, where a slender majority of 2,743 has made his seat a key target for the Lib Dems.

Mr Raab has “become increasingly concerned” about the pressure the job has placed on his young family, according to a letter explaining his decision seen by The Telegraph.

Sajid Javid (CONSERVATIVE)

Sajid Javid has written to the chair of his constituency party in Bromsgrove to say he will not stand at the next general election.

He was unsuccessful in his bid for Conservative Party leadership in 2022 and had previously held a number of positions in cabinet, including chancellor, health secretary and business secretary.

“It has been a decision I have wrestled with for some time, but I have ultimately concluded not to stand again for what would be my fifth election,” he said.

“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.”

Matt Hancock (INDEPENDENT, former CONSERVATIVE)

Former health secretary Matt Hancock wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 7th December to inform him he wouldn’t be standing for the Conservatives at the next election.

He was suspended from the party in November after he announced he was going on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, but said in his letter the chief whip “made clear” last week he would restore the whip “in due course, but that is now not necessary”.

“For my part, I want to do things differently. I have discovered a whole new world of possibilities which I am excited to explore – new ways for me to communicate with people of all ages and from all backgrounds,”he wrote.

The 44-year-old MP, who has a 23,194 majority in his West Suffolk constituency, said he wants to champion issues “dear to my heart”, including better support for dyslexic children.

Nadine Dorries (CONSERVATIVE)

Staunchly loyal Boris-backer and former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries blamed the “sheer stupidity” of her colleagues who “got rid of Boris Johnson” for her decision to stand down.

The Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire said that the decision had followed “much soul-searching”.

She said: “Those MPs who drank the Kool-Aid and got rid of Boris Johnson are already asking themselves the question: who next?

“And I’m afraid that the lack of cohesion, the infighting and occasionally the sheer stupidity from those who think we could remove a sitting prime minister, who secured a higher percentage of the vote share than Tony Blair did in 1997, just three short years ago…

“That [they think] they could do that and the public would let us get away with it, I’m afraid it’s this behaviour that I now just have to remove myself from.”

She added: “And so despite it being a job that I’ve loved for every year I’ve done it, I’m now off. Oh gosh, I’ve just said it out loud, there’s no going back now.”

Sir Graham Brady (CONSERVATIVE)

Chairman of the influential 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, Sir Graham Brady announced in March that he would be bringing his chapter as a politician “to a close” while still “young enough to pursue other opportunities and interests”.

The 55-year-old has represented Altrincham and Sale West for the past 26 years and has been the chairman of the 1922 Committee since 2010, bar a brief period in 2019.

Brady contributed to the ousting of Prime Minister’s Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss. He is considered by some to be the ‘Grim Reaper’ of the Tory party.

William Wragg (CONSERVATIVE)

Senior Tory Mr Wragg is the vice-chairman of the influential 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers and has held the Hazel Grove constituency in Greater Manchester since 2015.

Mr Wragg had been one of the Conservative MPs most critical of former PM Mr Johnson and also publicly demanded Liz Truss quit as leader in October.

The MP for Hazel Grove took a short break earlier this year to recover from depression.

Douglas Ross (CONSERVATIVE)

The well-known leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said he will not stand again at Westminster in order to focus on Holyrood as an MSP.

He has served as Member of Parliament for Moray since 2017.

Nicola Richards (CONSERVATIVE)

Ms Richards, who was elected in West Bromwich East in 2019, has announced she will not be standing in the new constituency of West Bromwich due to changes in her “domestic circumstances”.

Ian Blackford (SNP)

Renownedly confrontational during PMQs, former Westminster leader for the SNP, Ian Blackford, has announced he will be stepping down at the next election following “a period of reflection” after losing his senior role.

He told Sky News in a broadcast exclusive that going forward, he would be working on a paper on Scotland’s industrial future and continuing as his party’s business ambassador.

Harriet Harman (LABOUR)

Labour’s Ms Harman, the longest continuous serving female MP in the Commons, has announced that she will not be standing for the party at the next election.

Ms Harman, who has represented the south London constituency of Camberwell and Peckham since 1982, revealed the news on Twitter.

Dame Margaret Hodge (LABOUR)

Veteran Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge is another who will step aside.

Dame Margaret, who has been the MP for Barking in east London since 1994, described the decision as “really tough”.

During her time in politics, she has served as a minister in several departments, including education, work and pensions, and culture, and chaired the influential Public Accounts Committee.

More recently, Dame Margaret was a prominent critic of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and accused him of denying the problem of antisemitism within the Labour Party.

Barry Sheerman (LABOUR)

One of the country’s longest-serving MPs, Mr Sheerman will also be leaving parliament.

The MP for Huddersfield since 1979 said standing down at the next election was the right time for him and the party.

Mr Sheerman, who has been a shadow work and pensions and home affairs minister, added he was proud of the work he had done over the past 42 years, but was looking forward to spending more time with his family.

He is the longest-serving Labour MP and the second-longest continuous-serving MP in the House of Commons after Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley.

Dame Margaret Beckett (LABOUR)

Britain’s first female foreign secretary is to retire after nearly four decades as MP for Derby South.

Dame Margaret, who is also Britain’s longest-serving female MP, was first elected to the House of Commons to represent Lincoln in 1974 when just 27 MPs were women.