Theresa May to stand down as MP at next election as former Prime Minister says ‘it’s been honour & privilege to serve’
THERESA May has announced she will be standing down as an MP at the next General Election.
The former Prime Minister told her Maidenhead constituency it had been an “honour and a privilege to serve”.
She told the Maidenhead Advertiser: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve everyone in the Maidenhead constituency as the member of parliament for the last 27 years.
“Being an MP is about service to one’s constituents and I have always done my best to ensure that I respond to the needs of local people and the local area.”
Mrs May has been the Conservative MP for Maidenhead since 1997 and elected seven times for the Berkshire seat.
She told her constituency newspaper she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
“These causes have been taking an increasing amount of my time,” Mrs May continued.
“Because of this, after much careful thought and consideration, I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve.
“I have therefore taken the difficult decision to stand down at the next General Election.”
The Maidenhead MP added: “I have served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister but none of that would have been possible without the people of Maidenhead and the constituency which I have been proud to call my home.”
The politician was Prime Minister between July 2016 and 2019 when David Cameron resigned after the country voted for Brexit.
A snap election in 2017 saw Mrs May lose her majority, but she remained at Number 10 thanks to a deal with the DUP in the resulting hung parliament.
But Mrs May left the role three years later due to difficulty passing her Brexit deal through parliament.
The former PM announced her resignation on May 24, 2019, and delivered an emotional speech outside Downing Street in which she described her time in the role as “the honour of my life”.
It comes as almost 100 MPs have announced they will not fight their seats at the next election, including 64 Conservatives and former Conservatives.
This is the highest number to retire from Parliament since Mrs May entered the Commons in 1997.