As we enter what is, at most, the final 18 months of this Parliament, people are increasingly wondering if any more sitting Conservative MPs are likely to retire in advance of the next election and create a vacancy in a safe seat. It was reported in October 2006 that two thirds of the party's oldest MPs intended standing again.
As of today, the following 14 MPs elected as Conservatives have had new Conservative PPCs selected in their place:
Peter Atkinson - Hexham - - > Guy Opperman
Tim Boswell - Daventry - - > Chris Heaton-Harris MEP
Angela Browning - Tiverton and Honiton - - > Neil Parish MEP
Sir John Butterfill - Bournemouth West - - > Conor Burns
Derek Conway - Old Bexley and Sidcup - - > James Brokenshire MP
Quentin Davies - Grantham and Stamford - - > Nicholas Boles
Michael Jack - Fylde - - > Mark Menzies
Michael Howard - Folkestone and Hythe - - > Damian Collins
Michael Mates - Hampshire East - - > Damian Hinds
Malcolm Moss - Cambridgeshire North East - - > Steve Barclay
Andrew Pelling - Croydon Central - - > Gavin Barwell
Sir Michael Spicer - Worcestershire West - - > Harriett Baldwin
Bob Spink - Castle Point - - > Rebecca Harris
Ann Widdecombe - Maidstone and the Weald - - > Helen Grant
(NB Additionally, there is Ryedale MP John Greenway who has been left seatless, having lost out in the race with Anne McIntosh for the newly drawn Thirsk and Malton seat)
So who else might step down?
Of the other Conservative MPs in the Commons, 21 have reached 65 and a further 24 are already 60 or turn 60 this year. We are in no way suggesting that there should be an age limit to being an MP or that they are not carrying out their parliamentary duties with gusto. The experience of many older MPs is indispensable. Three years ago Iain Dale made a good case for recruiting older MPs. However, it is inevitable that if any other MPs are to retire before the general election, then they are most likely to come from among the senior ranks, so we have compiled a list of them, as below, in order of their seniority.
Incidentally, a number of them will have already been re-adopted to fight the next election, so if you can confirm that this is the case, please email us and we will point that out.
78 - Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth and Horncastle)
71 - Sir Alan Haselhurst (Saffron Walden)
70 - Sir Peter Viggers (Gosport) Re-adopted
70 - Sir Nicholas Winterton (Macclesfield)
70 - Sir Michael Lord (Suffolk Central and Ipswich North)
69 - John Horam (Orpington)
69 - Sir Patrick Cormack (Staffordshire South) Re-selected
69 - Anthony Steen (Totnes)
69 - John Gummer (Suffolk Coastal)
68 - Bill Cash (Stone)
68 - Kenneth Clarke (Rushcliffe)
67 - Ann Winterton (Congleton)
67 - Sir George Young (Hampshire North West) Re-adopted
67 - Angela Watkinson (Upminster) Adopted for Upminster and Hornchurch
67 - Sir John Stanley (Tonbridge and Malling) Re-adopted
66 - Brian Binley (Northampton South) Adopted for the redrawn Northampton South seat
66 - Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills) Re-selected
65 - John Maples (Stratford-on-Avon) Standing again
65 - Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden)
65 - Roger Gale (Thanet North)
65 - David Wilshire (Spelthorne) Re-selected
64 - David Curry (Skipton and Ripon)
64 - Peter Bottomley (Worthing West)
63 - Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham)
63 - Tim Yeo (Suffolk South) Standing again
63 - Robert Key (Salisbury) Re-adopted
63 - Ian Taylor (Esher and Walton)
63 - Richard Ottaway (Croydon South)
63 - Michael Ancram (Devizes) Re-adopted
63 - Humfrey Malins (Woking)
62 - Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley)
62 - Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Kensington and Chelsea) Adopted for Kensington
62 - Richard Spring (Suffolk West)
61 - Christopher Chope (Christchurch)
61 - Gerald Howarth (Aldershot)
61 - Jacqui Lait (Beckenham)
60 - Nicholas Soames (Sussex Mid)
60 - Robert Walter (Dorset North)
60 - David Davis (Haltemprice and Howden)
59 - Keith Simpson (Norfolk Mid) Adopted for Broadland
59 - David Heathcoat-Amory (Wells)
59 - James Paice (Cambridgeshire South East)
59 - Greg Knight (Yorkshire East)
59 - David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) Re-selected
59 - Andrew Mackay (Bracknell)
