Almost 60 Conservatives have now said they will stand down at the next general election as Theresa May announced her decision to quit Parliament
A steady stream of Tory MPs have announced they will not fight their seats at the general election, with eight coming since the start of 2024.
The figures mean around a sixth of the parliamentary party will leave Westminster at the election, with more Tories standing down than at any election since 1997.
Labour has said the large number of departures shows there is “no confidence” in Rishi Sunak, while Conservative minister Gareth Davies said it was “reasonable” for people to stand down and “this is what happens when you approach a new election”.
The list of Conservative MPs who have announced they are standing down at the next general election, as of March 8 2024, appears below.
– Adam Afriyie, Windsor (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 20,079)
– Nickie Aiken, Cities of London and Westminster (MP since 2019, 2019 majority 3,953)
– Lucy Allan, Telford (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 10,941)
– Richard Bacon, South Norfolk (MP since 2001; 2019 majority 21,275)
– John Baron, Basildon & Billericay (MP since 2001; 2019 majority 20,412)
– Sir Paul Beresford, Mole Valley (MP since 1997; 2019 majority 12,041)
– Sir Graham Brady, Altrincham & Sale West (MP since 1997; 2019 majority 6,139)
– Steve Brine, Winchester (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 985)
– Sir Bill Cash, Stone (previously MP for Stafford 1984-97, then Stone since 1997; 2019 majority 19,945)
– Chris Clarkson, Heywood & Middleton (MP since 2019; 2019 majority 663)
– Tracey Crouch, Chatham & Aylesford (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 18,540)
– Dehenna Davison, Bishop Auckland (MP since 2019; 2019 majority 7,962)
– Jonathan Djanogly, Huntingdon (MP since 2001; 2019 majority 19,383)
– Sir James Duddridge, Rochford & Southend East (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 12,286)
– Philip Dunne, Ludlow (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 23,648)
– George Eustice, Camborne & Redruth (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 8,700)
– Mike Freer, Finchley & Golders Green (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 6,562)
– Nick Gibb, Bognor Regis & Littlehampton (MP since 1997; 2019 majority 22,503)
– Jo Gideon, Stoke-on-Trent Central (MP since 2019; 2019 majority 670)
– Sir Robert Goodwill, Scarborough & Whitby (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 10,270)
– Chris Grayling, Epsom & Ewell (MP since 2001; 2019 majority 17,873)
– Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 628)
– Trudy Harrison, Copeland (MP since 2017; 2019 majority 5,842)
– Sir Oliver Heald, North East Hertfordshire (MP since 1992; 2019 majority 18,189)
– Gordon Henderson, Sittingbourne & Sheppey (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 24,479)
– John Howell, Henley (MP since 2008; 2019 majority 14,053)
– Alister Jack, Dumfries & Galloway (MP since 2017; 2019 majority 1,805)
– Sajid Javid, Bromsgrove (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 23,106)
– David Jones, Clwyd West (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 6,747)
– Sir Greg Knight, East Yorkshire (previously MP for Derby North 1983-97, then East Yorkshire since 2001; 2019 majority 22,787)
– Kwasi Kwarteng, Spelthorne (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 18,393)
– Pauline Latham, Mid-Derbyshire (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 15,385)
– Theresa May, Maidenhead (MP since 1997; 2019 majority 18,846)
– Stephen McPartland, Stevenage (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 8,562)
– Sir Bob Neill, Bromley & Chislehurst (MP since 2006; 2019 majority 10,891)
– Matthew Offord, Hendon (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 4,230)
– Mark Pawsey, Rugby (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 13,447)
– Sir Mike Penning, Hemel Hempstead (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 14,563)
– Andrew Percy, Brigg & Goole (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 21,941)
– Will Quince, Colchester (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 9,423)
– Dominic Raab, Esher & Walton (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 2,743)
– Douglas Ross, Moray (MP since 2017; 2019 majority 513)
– Paul Scully, Sutton and Cheam (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 8,351)
– Sir Alok Sharma, Reading West (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 4,117)
– Chloe Smith, Norwich North (MP since 2009; 2019 majority 4,738)
– Henry Smith, Crawley (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 8,360)
– Royston Smith, Southampton Itchen (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 4,498)
– Sir Gary Streeter, Devon South West (previously MP for Plymouth Sutton 1992-97, then Devon South West since 1997; 2019 majority 21,430)
– Edward Timpson, Eddisbury (previously MP for Crewe & Nantwich 2008-2017, then Crewe & Nantwich since 2019; 2019 majority 18,443)
– Sir Charles Walker, Broxbourne (MP since 2005; 2019 majority 19,807)
– Robin Walker, Worcester (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 6,758)
– Ben Wallace, Wyre & Preston North (previously MP for Lancaster & Wyre 2005-10, then Wyre & Preston North since 2010; 2019 majority 16,781)
– Craig Whittaker, Calder Valley (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 5,774)
– William Wragg, Hazel Grove (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 4,423)
The following MPs, formerly Conservative but now sitting as Independent, are also standing down:
– Crispin Blunt, Reigate (MP since 1997; 2019 majority 18,310)
– Matt Hancock, West Suffolk (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 23,194)
– Julian Knight, Solihull (MP since 2015; 2019 majority 21,273)
– Bob Stewart, Beckenham (MP since 2010; 2019 majority 14,258)
Former SNP MP Lisa Cameron, who now sits for the Conservatives, is standing down from her seat of East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow, which she first won in 2015 and where she had a majority of 13,322 at the 2019 general election.
The total number of Conservative and former Conservative MPs who have announced they will stand down at the election is 59.
Note: This list excludes five Conservative MPs who have said they are not seeking re-election in their current constituency but may be seeking re-election in a different seat, and as such have yet to indicate if they are retiring from Parliament for good.
They are Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), Andy Carter (Warrington South), Kieran Mullan (Crewe and Nantwich), Nicola Richards (West Bromwich East), and Jamie Wallis (Bridgend).
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