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Former Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will stand down as an MP at the next general election, becoming the 64th Conservative MP to announce they are quitting.
In a letter posted on X, he said that serving his constituency of Stratford-on-Avon, which he has held since 2010, was “the greatest honour of my life” and the he felt “immensely privileged to have been called upon to serve my country across Government”.
He reflected on his various Cabinet roles, which have included Education Secretary, Chancellor and Conservative Party Chairman, a role he was sacked from last year following controversy over his tax arrangements. He is currently a backbench MP.
Mr Zahawi was also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under Liz Truss, and during his brief tenure wrote he was “given the unique responsibility of coordinating the funeral commemorations for our beloved Queen Elizabeth II”.
Prior to entering politics, he was a businessman and helped found the polling firm YouGov, which he was chairman of from 2005 to 2010.
He said: “Every morning as I shave my head in the mirror, I have to pinch myself. How is it that a boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have?
“For all our challenges, this is the best country on Earth, and it helped me make my British dream come true.”
Mr Zahwi also referenced William Shakespeare in his letter, adding: “But as my most famous constituent once wrote: ‘Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know’.
“I have come to feel that the time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon and assuming the mantle of MP for Shakespeare.
“I will, of course, serve my constituents with dedication and determination until then, and the Prime Minister, and the Conservative Party, will continue to have my unswerving support into and beyond the next general election.”
Mr Zahawi has joined a growing cohort of Tory MPs announcing they will not seek reelection as the party trails behind Labour in the polls.
Other notable figures among the 64 Tory MPs who have announced they are standing down include former prime minister Theresa May, influential 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Here are all the Conservative MPs standing down at the next general election:
- Nickie Aiken, MP for Cities of London and Westminster since 2019 (2019 majority: 3,953)
- Adam Afriyie, MP for Windsor since 2005 (2019 majority: 20,079)
- Lucy Allan, MP for Telford since 2015 (2019 majority: 10,941)
- Stuart Andrew, MR for Putney since 2010 (2019 majority: 3,517)
- Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk since 2001 (2019 majority: 21,275)
- John Baron, MP for Basildon and Billericay since 2001 (2019 majority: 20,412)
- Sir Paul Beresford, MP for Mole Valley since 1997 (2019 majority: 12,041)
- Sir Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997 (2019 majority:
- Steve Brine, MP for Winchester since 2010 (2019 majority: 985)
- Lisa Cameron, MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow since 2015 (2019 majority: 13,322; elected as SNP but defected to Conservatives in 2023)
- Andy Carter, MP for Warrington South since 2019 (2019 majority: 2,010)
- Sir Bill Cash, MP for Stone since 1997 (2019 majority: 19,945)
- Chris Clarkson, MP for Heywood and Middleton since 2019 (2019 majority: 663)
- Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford since 2010 (2019 majority: 18,540)
- Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland since 2019 (2019 majority: 7,962)
- Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon since 2001 (2019 majority: 19,383)
- Sir James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East since 2005 (2019 majority: 12,286)
- Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow since 2005 (2019 majority: 23,648)
- George Eustice, MP for Camborne and Redruth since 2010 (2019 majority: 8,700)
- Mike Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green since 2010 (2019 majority: 6,562)
- Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton since 1997 (2019 majority: 22,503)
- Jo Gideon, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central since 2019 (2019 majority: 670)
- Sir Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough and Whitby since 2005 (2019 majority: 10,270)
- Chris Grayling, MP for Epsom and Ewell since 2001 (2019 majority: 17,873)
- Robert Halfon, MP for Harrow since 2010 (2019 majority: 14,063)
- Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon since 2005 (2019 majority: 628)
- Trudy Harrison, MP for Copeland since 2017 (2019 majority: 5,842)
- Sir Oliver Heald, MP for North East Hertfordshire since 1992 (2019 majority: 18,189)
- James Heappey, MP for Wells since 2015 (2019 majority: 9,991)
- Gordon Henderson, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey since 2010 (2019 majority: 24,479)
- John Howell, MP for Henley since 2008 (2019 majority: 14,053)
- Alister Jack, MP for Dumfries and Galloway since 2017 (2019 majority: 1,805)
- Sajid Javid, MP for Bromsgrove since 2010 (2019 majority: 23,106)
- David Jones, MP for Clwyd West since 2005 (2019 majority: 6,747)
- Sir Greg Knight, MP for East Yorkshire since 2001 (2019 majority: 22,787)
- Kwasi Kwarteng, MP for Spelthorne since 2010 (2019 majority: 18,393)
- Pauline Latham, MP for Mid-Derbyshire since 2010 (2019 majority: 15,385)
- Sir Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth since 2010 (2019 majority: 17,663)
- Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham since 1997 (2019 majority: 7,474)
- Theresa May, MP for Maidenhead since 1997 (2019 majority: 18,846)
- Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage since 2010 (2019 majority: 8,562)
- Dr Kieran Mullan, MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 2019 (2019 majority: 8,508)
- Sir Bob Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst since 2009 (2019 majority: 10,891)
- Matthew Offord, MP for Hendon since 2010 (2019 majority: 4,230)
- Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby since 2010 (2019 majority: 13,447)
- Sir Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead since 2005 (2019 majority: 14,563)
- Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole since 2010 (2019 majority: 21,941)
- Will Quince, MP for Colchester since 2015 (2019 majority: 9,423)
- Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton since 2010 (2019 majority: 2,743)
- Nicola Richards, MP for West Bromwich East since 2019 (2019 majority: 1,593)
- Douglas Ross, MP for Moray since 2017 (2019 majority: 513)
- Paul Scully, MP for Sutton and Cheam since 2015 (2019 majority: 8,351)
- Sir Alok Sharma, MP for Reading West since 2010 (2019 majority: 4,117)
- Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North since 2009 (2019 majority: 4,738)
- Henry Smith, MP for Crawley since 2010 (2019 majority: 8,360)
- Royston Smith, MP for Southampton Itchen since 2015 (2019 majority: 4,498)
- Sir Gary Streeter, MP for Devon South West since 1997 (2019 majority: 21,430)
- Edward Timpson, MP for Eddisbury since 2019 (2019 majority: 18,443)
- Sir Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne since 2005 (2019 majority: 19,807)
- Robin Walker, MP for Worcester since 2010 (2019 majority: 6,758)
- Ben Wallace, MP for Wyre and Preston North since 2010 (2019 majority: 16,781)
- Jamie Wallis, MP for Bridgend since 2019 (2019 majority: 1,157)
- Craig Whittaker, MP for Calder Valley since 2010 (2019 majority: 5,774)
Here are the former Conservative MPs who have since lost or resigned the party whip, and have announced they are standing down:
- Crispin Blunt, MP for Reigate since 1997 (2019 majority: 18,310)
- Matt Hancock, MP for West Suffolk since 2010 (2019 majority: 23,194)
- Julian Knight, MP for Solihull since 2015 (2019 majority: 21,273)
- Mark Menzies, MP for Fylde since 2010 (2019 majority: 16,611)
- Bob Stewart, MP for Beckenham since 2010 (2019 majority: 14,258)
- William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove since 2015, (2019 majority: 4,423)
