Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing and Tory MP Jo Churchill have just announced that they are stepping down at the election. Laing told Guido in 2009 that she was imminently stepping down. Now she’s come true on her word…

Epping Forest needs a candidate. Good news for Downing Street’s Will Tanner…

UPDATE: Leigh and Atherton MP James Grundy has also announced he is standing down. His statement is also below.

Read their full statements below:

Eleanor Laing:

“I have had the great honour and pleasure of representing the people of Epping Forest as their Member of Parliament for the last 27 years. I have also had the privilege of serving as Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons for over 10 years, the last 4 of which have been as Chairman of Ways and Means.

It is very difficult to give up a job that you love. I have come to the conclusion, however, that it is now time for me to move aside and give others the opportunities that I have been so fortunate to have.

I had hoped to meet you this weekend to tell you in person that I will not seek re-election at the end of this parliament. Now that the General Election has been called, that moment has come rather sooner than I had expected.

Epping Forest is a marvellous constituency. Its towns and villages are full of character and the ancient Forest itself gives personality to the whole area. As the recent local election results showed, I have every confidence that we will win this great seat on 4th July.

I also have every confidence that our Party will flourish. The British people need our principles and our values – responsibility, compassion and freedom.

I will wholeheartedly continue to support the work of the Association and, whomever my successor might be, I will do all that I can to help in the forthcoming campaign.”

Jo Churchill:

“It has been the honour of my life to represent the people of the Bury St Edmunds constituency but for family reasons, I have decided I will not be fighting the next election.

What makes the role so special for me is the people of Suffolk; being able to champion and work on their behalf has bought immense rewards. These include securing the commitment to build our new West Suffolk hospital, driving upgrades to the A14, to our railways and their stations, initiating the ‘SHELF’ project in Stowmarket and supporting many wonderful businesses and institutions but, most significantly to be a part of people’s lives, helping to sort out issues and advocate on their behalf. All this I could not have delivered without my wonderful team, especially Lesley who has been with me through it all.

My passionate belief is that every child deserves the very best our education system can offer, this has driven me to help improve schooling locally and secure investment. There is still more to achieve but the green shoots are evident. New buildings stretch from Abbeygate to Stowmarket High, from Grace Cook to Thurston Primary and the much-needed improvements to SEND education are on the horizon with the promised work at Horringer and a new build for The Priory school. In Further Education, working with Nikos Savvas and the West Suffolk college team has been a joy. Additionally championing the dental facility at the University of Suffolk working again with Sara Hurley, the former Chief Dental Officer, and Ed Garrett of the ICB has extremely fulfilling. Driving dental provision through a CIC has been groundbreaking and I hope we can go on to deliver even more change in this and other areas.

I have taken much pride in serving in Government and the roles have all been memorable. During the pandemic, as the Public and Primary Care Minister it was a privilege to work with leading minds and consummate professionals in science, medicine, and the civil service. It was an honour to stand beside you, as we showed what could be achieved and, I remain grateful to you all. As Innovation Minister in Defra steering the Gene Editing bill through Parliament, will serve I hope, as a lasting legacy for UK farming to continue to lead the way in food production and to mitigate some of the challenges of climate change at home and abroad.

Fulfilling the role as a Government Whip twice, latterly as Vice-Chamberlain, having the honour to be part of the Royal Household as we said goodbye to our beloved late Queen Elizabeth II and welcomed His Majesty King Charles III was a special time, and I wish our King a continued recovery.

My current role as Minister for Employment driving jobs and opportunities, is integral to my belief in the conservative values of rewarding hard work, self-responsibility and reaching out to help others. I believe we are here to serve, and I will continue to do so for as long as I am asked.

Prime Minister, I have the utmost respect for the difficult job that you do in protecting us and assure you of my constant support until the next election. I will continue to work to deliver for my constituents in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket serving their needs and championing this wonderful part of Suffolk.

Finally, to those who have looked beyond the politics to become true friends I thank you from the bottom of my family’s heart.”

James Grundy:

“When I stood in the General Election in 2019, I never dared hope that I would be elected to serve as MP for my home town of Leigh, but the public had other plans and overturned the largest Labour majority in the country to send me to Westminster to ‘Get Brexit Done’. 

I am very proud to say that I delivered on that promise to my constituents despite the immense challenges we faced in doing so. I am also immensely proud of other achievements such as the £20 million expansion to Leigh Infirmary, stopping the hated Golborne Spur of HS2 smashing through the middle of Lowton, as well as stopping the insane, job destroying Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone.

Leigh will also be getting £20 million from the Future Towns fund and £11.5 million from the Levelling Up fund to regenerate our town centre after years of neglect, not to mention the £13 million Wigan and Leigh College received as part of the successful bid to become part of the new Greater Manchester Institute of Technology and the £1 million to regenerate Tyldesley town centre via the superb community led Heritage Action Zone.

We are also on the verge of receiving final approval to reopen Golborne Station, a project I have worked to deliver on a cross party basis with Mayor Andy Burnham, and after 60 years we are making progress on a £53 million proposal to complete the Atherleigh Way bypass, after years of inaction.

Finally I raised the issue closest to the heart of the people of Leigh in Parliament, that of ‘Lexit’ or an independent Leigh Council which I am pleased to say that at my last meeting with Micheal Gove was being considered for inclusion in the Conservative Party manifesto as part of a broader range of local government reforms. Here’s hoping it makes it in there!

I am immensely proud both of all that I have achieved and the things I have set in motion for the future of our community, but the only reason I was able to do any of these things was because I had the support of local people in fighting for them.

I was honoured to become both the first ever Conservative MP for the Leigh constituency and also the last MP for the Leigh constituency given the seat will now be abolished and replaced with the new Leigh and Atherton seat. On that note I would like to thank everyone who backed my ‘Keep Leigh In Leigh’ campaign to ensure that Westleigh retained its rightful place as part of Leigh and did not become part of a Wigan based constituency, in particular the ever-energetic local champion Trevor Barton.

I have decided, however, not to contest the new Leigh and Atherton constituency at the unexpectedly announced General Election to take place in July. Normally when an MP says they have served under 3 Prime Ministers, dealt with a world spanning plague for the first time in a century, have to deal with the consequences of the first major war in Europe for nearly 80 years and seen the death of the nations’ longest serving monarch they would be a Parliamentary veteran of nearly 30 years’ service.

“It is fair to say that the last few years have perhaps been the most challenging Parliament since the one that sat during World War 2.

“There has also been a saddening change in the political climate where increasingly politicians, their families and staff are seen as fair game for abuse, threats of violence or even death threats.

“I have spoken before about the death threats aimed at my elderly parents after the Gaza debate, seen a colleague murdered, seen another have his office burned down and others either stepping down or changing constituencies due to harassment and abuse, to give just some examples during this Parliament. This not healthy for our national politics and needs to change, and with that in mind I have decided not to seek re-election.

“This is not to say I haven’t enjoyed my time in office, indeed to serve as an MP is one of the greatest privileges anyone in public service can have and I will never regret my time spent as the MP for the town that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, the town of Leigh.

In particular it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to lift the Betfred cup with Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont at Wembley when Leigh won the Cup for the first time in 52 years, an experience I will never forget.  

I’d like to thank the public for putting their faith in me, local Conservative party members for fighting by my side in what seemed the impossible task of winning the constituency in 2019, and the unsung heroes, my office staff who have dealt with nearly 24,000 cases over the last 4 and a half years.

They have been absolutely brilliant, especially during the vast amounts of casework we had to deal with during the Covid epidemic, and I cannot thank them enough.

In the spirit of asking for a healthier national political climate, I will leave you with this photograph of myself and the Mayor of the Borough, Labour Councillor Kevin Anderson of Leigh South and his ward colleague Councillor Charles Rigby, and their lovely other-halves, when I took them on a tour of Parliament before they attended the recent Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

Politics does not have to be vicious and mean-spirited, and people can hold strongly differing opinions and still treat each other with decency, respect and even be friends, but the public needs to embrace that ideal, or good people will turn away from going into politics and engaging in public service.

Thank you again to the people of Leigh, Lowton, Golborne, Astley, Tyldesley and Atherton for giving someone so ordinary as myself the extraordinary opportunity of serving as your MP.

I wish whoever serves as my successor as local MP the very best of goodwill, whoever that person may be.”