Banbury: MP Sir Tony Baldry To Stand Down

1 September 2014, 11:17 | Updated: 1 September 2014, 11:27

The Tory MP for Banbury Sir Tony Baldry has announced he is standing down at the general election.

Conservative former minister, who was first elected in 1983, said the introduction of fixed-term parliaments along with his age had prompted him to quit the House of Commons.

Sir Tony, who is the latest of a number of Conservatives to announce that he will not contest his seat, insisted he was "fully confident'' that the Tories would win the election.

"One of the consequences of now having five-year fixed-term Parliaments is that, if I succeed in being re-elected at the forthcoming general election, given my age, most people will assume that Parliament will be my last,'' he said.

"I think this creates a danger that I may be unable to be as effective as I would wish to be; and that the constituency will be distracted from more important issues by the need to choose my successor.

"So, after careful thought over the summer recess and discussions with my family, I have decided to stand down at the next general election.''

On twitter he said: "It goes without saying that I shall continue to work as hard as possible for my constituents until this Parliament is prorogued next year."