Andrew Tyrie’s statement:
“After very careful thought, I have decided to stand down from Parliament. The hardest part of my decision has been that I have the most welcoming, generous and beautiful constituency in the country.
There have been many challenges, not least helping to rescue St Richard’s A&E from closure, getting the cash to improve sea defences, and helping to secure emergency funding for Chichester’s flood relief scheme.
It has been an exhilarating twenty years. I have done what I can to make a contribution, particularly in efforts to improve banking standards and to shape a more trusted and resilient financial sector after the crisis of 2008. I have also sought to play a part in reviving Parliament’s relevance, not least by making the case for Select Committee chairmen to be elected by their fellow MPs. Stronger Committees now demand better explanations for the decisions made by ministers, regulators, and quangos than hitherto.
I particularly want to thank my colleagues and the staff on the Treasury Committee who have worked with me to drive these changes forward.
I am confident that Theresa May will lead the Conservative Party to a decisive victory at the General Election, and will continue to give the country the strong and effective leadership that she has already shown as Prime Minister. “I remain deeply committed to public service. I am determined, and hopefully young enough, to contribute in other ways in the years ahead.”
Only seven Tory MPs rebelled against the government last night and voted for Labour’s amendment. Four of those seven rebels represent Leave constituencies:
Claire Perry: Devizes voted Leave
Antoinette Sandbach: Eddisbury voted Leave
Anna Soubry: Broxtowe voted Leave
Andrew Tyrie: Chichester voted Leave
Of the three other rebels, Heidi Allen and Ken Clarke represent Remain seats, while Bob Neill’s Bromley and Chislehurst voted 50-50. There were six Tory abstainers: George Osborne was giving a speech in Antwerp, Nicky Morgan flipped out at chief whip Gavin Williamson and refused to vote, Nick Herbert and Ben Howlett are dripping Europhiles, and Helen Grant. In reality the much hyped rebellion was far smaller than trailed…
Constituency data via Chris Hanretty.
As expected Andrew Tyrie came out for Remain today with a speech at the Centre for Policy Studies. Equally unsurprisingly, Tyrie told the room he was open to a government job in the future:
“I’ve always said it would be the greatest honour to serve in any government.”
Asked if Nadine Dorries was right that he’d been offered a “sniff of Osborne’s dirty socks”, he replied: “David Cameron’s never offered me anything. I’m not aware that he is going to me anything”. Yet…
The long-term Europhile said he was “disappointed by the EU negotiations, I felt we could have asked for more”. Tyrie has condemned both the Leave and Remain campaigns for misleading figures. What was it that made him reserve stronger criticism for Leave today?
Leave message: Build hospitals with money meant for EU.
Remain message: Lingerie shops and gap-yah outfitters back remain.
Cut through: Vote Leave’s Dominic Cummings at the Treasury Select Committee.
Leave social media count: 327,325 likes, 36,116 followers.
Remain social media count: 355,739 likes, 24,139 followers.
Odds: Leave 7/4, Remain 4/7
Latest poll: Remain 49% (-3) Leave 39% (-4) (Ipsos MORI, phone). Poll of Polls is now Remain 53 (+1) Leave 47 (-1).
