107 MPs have now announced they won’t be standing at the next election.
That ticked up by one this morning when former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who currently sits as an independent, confirmed he was stepping down through his solicitor. Donaldson has been charged with rape and 10 other historic sex offences.
Later on this afternoon, following Rishi Sunak’s announcement of the date of the election, Holly Lynch, the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip announced she was standing down at the next election.
That number is higher than recent elections in 2019 (74), 2017 (31) and 2015 (90), but much lower than in 2010, when 149 stood down. Most of those standing down are Conservatives, with 65 Tories not standing again.
Labour has 20 MPs standing down, the SNP and independents MPs both have nine.
That’s similar to both 2010 and 1997, where the majority of MPs standing down were from the governing party, facing bleak polls following a long period of government.
The number could well tick up in the next few days as MPs who were putting off their decision decide not to stand again.
