John Howell, the MP for Henley said yesterday:

“By the time of the end of the next parliament I will be coming up towards my mid-70’s.  I do not want to be in parliament until that time as I would like to pursue other avenues. I am a strong supporter of Rishi Sunak and I hope that the South Oxfordshire Conservative Association will continue to get behind him.”

Which means the plum Tory safe seat is up for grabs. Boris Johnson is the former proprietor of the seat which has triggered a lot of speculation that he could swap his Uxbridge and South Ruislip majority of 7,210 for the more easily defended majority of 14,053 votes in Henley. Boris-hating types get excited by forecasts that he will lose his current seat. Boris increased his vote share to 52.6% in 2019 and Guido suspects the psephologists have it wrong.

That may be put that to the test sooner than scheduled if Harriet Harman’s kangaroo court rules punitively against Boris. Be careful what you wish for…