Former equalities minister Amber Rudd is not standing in next general election after making peace with Boris Johnson
Amber Rudd is standing down as an MP. (Getty)
Amber Rudd has confirmed that she will not stand in the December 12 general election but says she has made peace with prime minister Boris Johnson.
The former home secretary, who was also the minster for women and equalities on two separate occasions, said that she will end her tenure in the House of Commons as a Conservative MP after reconciling with Johnson.
Rudd quit her posts as work and pensions secretary and minister for women and equalities and resigned the Tory whip in September. She did so in solidarity with the 21 MPs who were expelled from the parliamentary party for voting to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Rudd said that she holds no regrets over her actions.
“It was a difficult thing to do,” she said.
“I thought about it very hard. I felt I wanted to do it out of solidarity with colleagues I had been in cabinet with, people whose values as Conservatives I shared and respected.
“I could not stand by while they were apparently being expelled from the Conservative Party.”
I’m not finished with politics, I’m just not standing at this election.
After Johnson restored the whip to 10 of the 21 so-called Tory rebels, Rudd said that she will be leaving the House “on perfectly good terms with the prime minister”.
“I spoke to the prime minister and had a good meeting with him a few days ago,” she said. “I’m really confident of my position.”
Rudd will meet with chief whip Mark Spencer today to formally ask for the whip back, and said she will be “happy to leave the House of Commons as a Conservative MP”.
She teased that though she is standing down, she isn’t done with politics just yet.
“I’m not finished with politics, I’m just not standing at this election,” she said.
More than 50 MPs stand down ahead of December 12 general election.
Britain looks set for a snap general election on December 12 after parliament voted 438-20 in favour of one.
A short bill was voted on, after Johnson failed three times to win enough votes for an election under the Fixed Term Parliament Act. The bill must now pass the House of Lords, though there is little doubt it will do so.
Barring any frustrations, parliament will dissolve next Wednesday for a relatively short election campaign of five weeks.
Rudd is one of at least 50 MPs who have said they will not stand again in the snap vote.
49https://t.co/Z75eABlsAc pic.twitter.com/0EB2nXaIyT
— Gavin Freeguard (@GavinFreeguard) October 30, 2019
Gavin Freeguard from the Institute for Government counted 49 MPs at 9.26am. Along with Amber Rudd, Tory MP Patrick McLoughlin has since announced he will step down.
