One in six Tory MPs elected in 2019 landslide won't be returning

The Tory exodus: At least one in six MPs elected in Boris Johnson’s 2019 landslide won’t be returning after the next general election

• 61 of those elected as Tory MPs in 2019 will not be returning to the Commons 

At least one in six of winning Conservative candidates from Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019 won’t be returning as MPs after the next general election.

When the ex-prime minister secured an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons more than three-and-a-half years ago, a total of 365 Tory MPs were elected to Parliament.

But their numbers have since been whittled down through a series of resignations, suspensions, tragic deaths, a defection and an imprisonment.

There are now also 45 Tory MPs intending to stand down at the next general election, which is expected next year. 

It means – in total, so far – 61 of those elected as Conservative MPs in 2019 (17 per cent) will not be returning to the Commons after the next time the country heads to the polls.

At least one in six of winning Conservative candidates from Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019 won’t be returning as MPs after the next general election

When the ex-prime minister secured an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons more than three-and-a-half years ago, a total of 365 Tory MPs were elected to Parliament

But their numbers have since been whittled down through a series of resignations, suspensions, tragic deaths, a defection and an imprisonment

Ahead of the 2019 general election, a total of 74 MPs (including 32 Tories, 20 Labour, and 16 independents) said they would not seek re-election to the Commons

Environment minister Trudy Harrison on Monday became the latest Tory MP to announce she will leave the Commons at the next general election.

Her Copeland constituency is set to be abolished and Ms Harrison said she would not be seeking selection as a candidate in the replacement constituency of Whitehaven and Workington.

First elected at a by-election in 2017, Ms Harrison was Copeland’s first female MP and its first Conservative MP.

Other senior Tories to announce they will stand down at the next general election include Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, his former Cabinet colleagues Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid, and Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Tories’ powerful 1922 Committee.

Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Tories, is also due to leave the Commons after his election to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in May 2021.

Five of the Tory MPs elected in 2019 have already resigned from the Commons, including Mr Johnson himself and his close ally Nigel Adams.

Owen Paterson quit in 2021 following a lobbying scandal, Neil Parish resigned in May last year after admitting to watching pornograpy in the Commons, and David Warburton left Parliament last month after admitting cocaine use and amid allegations of sexual harassment.

Six Tory MPs elected in 2019 have had the party whip withdrawn since the last general election and five currently sit as independent MPs.

Chris Pincher and Julian Knight have been suspended from the parliamentary party  over complaints made against them, while Scott Benton had the whip withdrawn over lobbying allegations.

Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock lost the Tory whip over his stint on TV’s I’m A Celebrity and will not seek to get it back.

Rob Roberts did not have the Tory whip restored after an independent investigation found he sexually harassed a junior member of staff.

Andrew Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party for comparing Covid-19 vaccines to the Holocaust and has since joined The Reclaim Party. 

Three of the Tory MPs elected in 2019 have tragically died. Cheryl Gillan and James Brokenshire died after illness, while Sir David Amess was brutally murdered at a constituency surgery.

Christian Wakeford, elected in Bury South in 2019, won’t be returning as a Tory MP after he defected to Labour in January last year.

Imran Ahmad Khan, who won the Wakefield constituency for the Tories at the last general election, was jailed in May last year for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Ahead of the 2019 general election, a total of 74 MPs (including 32 Tories, 20 Labour, and 16 independents) said they would not seek re-election to the Commons.

The number who stood down in 2019 was higher than at the 2017 general election, but lower than at any other election since 1979.

According to research by the House of Commons Library, an average of 87 MPs stood down from the Commons at general elections between 1979 and 2010.