Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sajid Javid to stand down at next election

(Photo: Getty)

Sajid Javid has become the latest Conservative MP to signal that they will be standing down at the next election. Announcing the news in a letter to his party chairman posted on social media, the former chancellor said the current boundary review deadline – which has seen MPs asked to signal by 5 December whether they want to stand again – had ‘accelerated’ his decision, which he’d come to ‘after much reflection’.

Javid says it is a decision he has ‘wrestled with for some time’. But the timing of it – with 11 other Tory MPs set to step down at the next election – means that it will inevitably be seen as part of a bigger narrative of Tory decay as the party trails behind Labour in the polls. The Chester by-election result – which saw Labour comfortably hold the seat and increase the majority – is just another reminder of the tricky state the Conservatives are now in.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters

Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in