Alan Howarth, the first sitting Conservative MP to cross the floor of the House of Commons to Labour, has announced he will not stand for re-election. As is traditional the Newport East MP said he wants to have more time “for family and home” and that he had reached the decision to leave politics with “mixed feelings” but said it was better to “bow out earlier rather than later.”

Mr Howarth was first elected as the Conservative MP for Stratford in 1983 but crossed the floor to Labour in 1995 due to Tory “indifference to the plight of the poor and neglect of public services.” He was elected Labour MP for Newport East in 1997 and served as Minister for Employment & Disabled People as well as Minister for the Arts.

Guido doesn’t know if Howarth was sincere when he crossed over, or just ambitious having realised Labour were going to be in power for some time. He didn’t really get anywhere and he was hardly missed by the Tories.