Senior Tory MP Tracey Crouch to stand down at general election

Tracey Crouch has become the latest senior Tory MP to announce she will not be standing in the upcoming general election, joining roughly 60 of her colleagues

The former Sports Minister confirmed she will not defend her her Kent seat later this year.

The Chatham and Aylesford MP, who was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, was first elected in 2010 and led the Government’s Review of Football Governance.

In a letter to her local Conservative Association, she said: “The reasons for not wishing to stand are entirely personal and positive.

“Everyone's cancer journey is different. For me going through a diagnosis and coming out the other side of treatment has been a life affirming experience.

“It has been an opportunity to pause and reflect my own personal priorities.

“And based on that I truly believe it is time to seek a new professional challenge.

“We spend far too much time in a relatively short lives, putting things off, but at some point, you have to say to yourself, if not now, when and for me I've realised that when is now.”

Around 60 Conservative MPs have now said they will step down before the country next goes to the polls.

Last week Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed that he will not seek re-election.

The former chancellor, who represents Spelthorne in Surrey, served a short-lived tenure in the role under Liz Truss and confirmed his upcoming departure on social media.

Nickie Aiken, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, became the sixth Tory MP in the capital to announce they will not stand at the election last week.

The departures come as the Tory party is gripped by a battle for its future direction, trailing Labour by a big gap in the polls, with Right-wingers launching the Popular Conservatives demanding big tax cuts, a tougher immigration policy and watered down green policies.

At least four of the London MPs standing down are on the Centre or Left of the party, including Ms Aiken, Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, Sir Bob Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst, and Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green who is leaving Parliament after receiving death threats.