Subscribe to the View from Westminster email newsletter to receive expert analysis directly in your inbox.
Receive our complimentary email newsletter, “View from Westminster”.
Dr. Kieran Mullan has announced that he will not run for re-election in his constituency during the upcoming general election, making him the most recent MP to do so.
The Member of Parliament for Crewe and Nantwich cited a boundary review and personal life changes as factors in his choice.
He mentioned that he still finds pleasure in politics in various aspects and is open to the possibility of running again in the future, possibly in a different location.
A rising number of Conservative MPs, including some well-known former cabinet secretaries and other ministers, are choosing to leave politics. This year, six Conservative MPs have already declared they will not run for re-election.
Kieran Mullan accompanying Sajid Javid on the campaign route.
A number of prominent members of the Conservative party, including Alok Sharma who served as business secretary and Cop26 president, Sajid Javid who was previously health secretary, Dominic Raab who held the position of justice secretary, and Ben Wallace who served as defence secretary, have recently stepped down due to their party’s difficulties in current polling.
Mr Sharma and Mr Raab, who stepped down from his role in the cabinet after facing numerous accusations of bullying that he denied, would have been defending small majorities of less than 5,000 votes in the upcoming national election.
The majority of MPs leaving Westminster are from the Conservative party, which is to be expected since they hold the largest number of seats, having won 365 in the 2019 election.
The Institute for Government states that in the 2010 election, over 100 Members of Parliament resigned from their positions, primarily from the Labour Party, which had held control since 1997.
Several members of Parliament also declared their resignation following the expenses scandal in the same year.
58 out of 92 Members of Parliament are Conservative and will not be running in the upcoming national election, which is anticipated to take place in either the spring or autumn of this year.
Harriet Harman, who previously held the position of Labour leader, Margaret Beckett, who previously served as foreign secretary, and Ben Bradshaw, who formerly held the role of culture secretary, are among 16 Labour Members of Parliament who will not seek re-election.
Nine Members of Parliament from the Scottish National Party, six independent MPs – including former Secretary of Health Matt Hancock – one representative from the Green Party, one from Plaid Cymru, and one from Sinn Fein have also chosen to retire from their positions.
Source: independent.co.uk
