Labour says wave of Tory MPs stepping down shows lack of confidence in Sunak as Theresa May announces exit

Labour has said that the wave of Conservative MPs stepping down at the next election shows a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak’s government, as former prime minister Theresa May announced she was joining the more than 60 Tory MPs exiting parliament.

May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament. In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

May joins 64 Conservatives and former Conservatives who will not fight their seats at the next election – the highest number of Tories to retire from parliament since May entered the Commons in 1997.

The Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said the number of Tories standing down showed there was “no confidence” in Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party’s prospects.

“This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election,” she said. “It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.”

Treasury minister Gareth Davies denied it showed a lack of confidence, saying “This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go.”

In her statement, May said it had been “an honour and a privilege” to serve as Maidenhead’s MP and vowed to continue working for her constituents until the general election.

She was first elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, and served as home secretary under David Cameron between 2010 and 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister. She coined the term “hostile environment”, which became a catch-all term for controversial policies on illegal migration.

She presided over the Home Office when it sent out the notorious “go home” vans, later saying they were “too much of a blunt instrument”. Her three years in Downing Street were marked by sharp parliamentary disagreements about how to implement Brexit – mostly from within her own party – which ultimately led to her resigning and being replaced by Boris Johnson.

The prime minister is in Keighley, West Yorkshire today, where Rishi Sunak has spoken to the media about Theresa May, and her decision to step down as an MP after 27 years.

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Obviously on International Women’s Day, it’s important to recognise that Theresa was our second female prime minister, which is an extraordinary achievement.

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And actually beyond that, she just has the most amazing track record of dedicated public service over two decades. And that is an extraordinary and inspiring example to anyone.

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Anyone who spent time with her knows how committed she is to public service, not just in her community, but the country. And everyone will miss her sorely.”

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Labour has said that the wave of Conservative MPs stepping down at the next election shows a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak’s government, as former prime minister Theresa May announced she was joining the more than 60 Tory MPs exiting parliament.

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May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament. In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

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May joins 64 Conservatives and former Conservatives who will not fight their seats at the next election – the highest number of Tories to retire from parliament since May entered the Commons in 1997.

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May pictured in November last year.”,”caption”:”Theresa May pictured in November last year.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Hannah McKay/PA”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said the number of Tories standing down showed there was “no confidence” in Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party’s prospects.

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“This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election,” she said. “It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.”

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Treasury minister Gareth Davies denied it showed a lack of confidence, saying “This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go.”

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In her statement, May said it had been “an honour and a privilege” to serve as Maidenhead’s MP and vowed to continue working for her constituents until the general election.

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She was first elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, and served as home secretary under David Cameron between 2010 and 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister. She coined the term “hostile environment”, which became a catch-all term for controversial policies on illegal migration.

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She presided over the Home Office when it sent out the notorious “go home” vans, later saying they were “too much of a blunt instrument”. Her three years in Downing Street were marked by sharp parliamentary disagreements about how to implement Brexit – mostly from within her own party – which ultimately led to her resigning and being replaced by Boris Johnson.

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Anneliese Dodds is one of the first Labour politicians to react publicly to the news that Theresa May is to stand down as an MP. She told GB News:

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This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election.

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It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.

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I think this really strengthens those calls for change, those calls for a general election.

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The former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.

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In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

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May, who was first elected in 1997, said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve everyone in the Maidenhead constituency as the MP for the last 27 years.

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“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.”

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Good morning. It is day three of reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday. Rishi Sunak’s government is under pressure after floating of the idea that he plans the unfunded axing of national insurance, while the questions for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves remain what they would do differently, and how they would fund those plans. It is also a day with very little in the diary, but one former PM is making early news with Theresa May’s decision to step down as an MP. Here are the headlines …

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• Former prime minister Theresa May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament.

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• Michael Gove failed to declare hospitality worth more than £1,700 at three Queens Park Rangers matches over the course of two years, not just the one occasion when he attended with a Conservative donor.

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• Having aimed a jibe at Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner during the budget about multiple home ownership after she faced questions about the sale of her former council house, Hunt has said he will pay more capital gains tax on his own multiple properties.

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• Sunak has been warned against fighting an election on an unfunded plan to abolish employee national insurance amid projections the move could blow a £40bn hole in the public finances.

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The House of Commons is not sitting today, although the House of Lords is – more on that in a second. None of the Scottish parliament, Senedd or Northern Ireland assembly have any business scheduled.

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It is Martin Belam with you today. I do try to read all your comments and dip in if I think I can be helpful, but the best way to get in touch with me – especially if you have spotted a typo or error – is to email me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.

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Key events

One of the key planks of Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday was the decision to adopt Labour’s policy of abolising non-dom status for taxation purposes, albeit with the money going to a different destination.

Labour had said it would use the money secured to put into the NHS and breakfast clubs. Hunt opted to use it to fund a cut in national insurance.

That doesn’t appear to have polled well with the public. According to YouGov, having spoken to people about the budget, their polling suggests “the public favour the Labour policy by 52% to 21%”.

There is some more reaction to Theresa May’s departure as an MP from Conservative colleagues here, via PA:

Julian Smith, who served as her chief whip, said: “I am very sorry to see that Theresa May is standing down as an MP. Our second female prime minister is an exceptional public servant with the highest integrity, relentless work ethic and total commitment to all parts of the UK in addition to her passionate campaigning for vital causes around the world.”

Nus Ghani, who gained her first ministerial role under May, said: “Theresa will be missed, she has integrity, determination and made time to support and help so many of us MPs as we learned the snakes and ladders of parliament.”

Caroline Nokes, immigration minister under Mrs May, said that on International Women’s Day “I want to celebrate a colleague who showed us all the importance of hard work, commitment to your constituency and integrity. Parliament will be poorer (and I’m a bit sad – too many women standing down).”

While he has been in Keighley, Rishi Sunak has been visiting Byworth Boilers, where it appears he has been pressed into doing some wiring.

Sunak: May is ‘an extraordinary and inspiring example’ of ‘dedicated public service’

The prime minister is in Keighley, West Yorkshire today, where Rishi Sunak has spoken to the media about Theresa May, and her decision to step down as an MP after 27 years.

Obviously on International Women’s Day, it’s important to recognise that Theresa was our second female prime minister, which is an extraordinary achievement.

And actually beyond that, she just has the most amazing track record of dedicated public service over two decades. And that is an extraordinary and inspiring example to anyone.

Anyone who spent time with her knows how committed she is to public service, not just in her community, but the country. And everyone will miss her sorely.”

It will not have escaped your attention that a repeated attack line from Rishi Sunak and his frontbench is that Labour do not have a “plan” for being in government. Indeed one suspects that “plan” will be one of the words most typed on this live blog over the coming months.

Keir Starmer this morning has published a Labour campaign video which leans in to talking about their “plan” for apprenticeships, construction and housing. It opens with Starmer saying “We need a proper the plan for growth, and that’s what the Labour party has set out. We’ve been talking about that plan here on this construction site.”

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves then chips in with “what we need is decent wages so people can support a family, but that means helping businesses grow.”

Starmer goes on to say that the apprentices in the construction industry they are talking to will be busy for the next few years because Labour’s plan – that word again – is “one-and-a-half million houses in the first five years of a Labour government.”

He concludes:

It is about long term decision making. It is about making sure that public sector investment is matched by private sector investment. That will only happen if we have economic stability. But we only will have economic stability under a Labour government with tight fiscal rules.

Britain deserves a government that prioritises economic stability.

That’s what a Labour government will deliver. pic.twitter.com/g6M28wbelC

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 8, 2024

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Rishi Sunak has paid tribute to Theresa May on social media. May is stepping down at the next election after being an MP for 27 years. Sunak posted:

A relentless campaigner, a fiercely loyal MP to the people of Maidenhead, and Britain’s second female prime minister. Theresa May defines what it means to be a public servant. I have no doubt Theresa will continue to make a positive impact on public life.

Kiran Stacey

Kiran Stacey, our political correspondent, has written this profile of the departing Theresa May:

Some argue that Theresa May’s inability to persuade her party to back her Brexit agreement was a result of her awkward style of personal interaction. She disliked the backslapping nature of the Commons tea rooms, hated small talk and deliberately shunned parliamentary gossip. John Crace, the Guardian’s sketch writer, called her the “Maybot”.

Those close to her, however, insist that in private she could be warm and sensitive, but that she put up a barrier in public in part to counteract perceptions of weakness as one of Britain’s highest-profile female politicians.

As home secretary May championed a range of initiatives to correct what she saw as social injustices, including curtailing police powers to “stop and search”, spearheading efforts to tackle modern slavery and reversing much of Labour’s hard-line antisocial behaviour policies. Much of that, however, was overshadowed by her uncompromising approach to immigration.

After calling the election in 2017 she watched a commanding poll lead evaporate as she fluctuated between presenting herself as a continuity candidate and a headstrong reformer. The campaign unravelled when she was forced to abandon a controversial signature pledge to reform social care, only to insist as she did so that “nothing has changed”.

Read more of Kiran Stacey’s profile of Theresa May here: Theresa May – loyal constituency MP who lost Tory support over Brexit

Labour says wave of Tory MPs stepping down shows lack of confidence in Sunak as Theresa May announces exit

Labour has said that the wave of Conservative MPs stepping down at the next election shows a lack of confidence in Rishi Sunak’s government, as former prime minister Theresa May announced she was joining the more than 60 Tory MPs exiting parliament.

May will step down as an MP at the next general election after 27 years in parliament. In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Maidenhead MP said she wanted to focus on causes close to her heart, including her work on the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

May joins 64 Conservatives and former Conservatives who will not fight their seats at the next election – the highest number of Tories to retire from parliament since May entered the Commons in 1997.

The Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said the number of Tories standing down showed there was “no confidence” in Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party’s prospects.

“This is obviously a very significant decision from Theresa May to stand down at the next election,” she said. “It is a surprise, but of course we’ve heard this from a large number of Conservative sitting MPs. They’ve decided not to stand for the next election, and I think that does reveal that frankly there’s no confidence in Rishi Sunak, nor indeed in the Conservative party to be a party of government for the future.”

Treasury minister Gareth Davies denied it showed a lack of confidence, saying “This is what happens when you approach a new election, and completely reasonable for people to decide that it’s time to go.”

In her statement, May said it had been “an honour and a privilege” to serve as Maidenhead’s MP and vowed to continue working for her constituents until the general election.

She was first elected as MP for Maidenhead in 1997, and served as home secretary under David Cameron between 2010 and 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister. She coined the term “hostile environment”, which became a catch-all term for controversial policies on illegal migration.

She presided over the Home Office when it sent out the notorious “go home” vans, later saying they were “too much of a blunt instrument”. Her three years in Downing Street were marked by sharp parliamentary disagreements about how to implement Brexit – mostly from within her own party – which ultimately led to her resigning and being replaced by Boris Johnson.

Helena Horton

Labour’s shadow environment secretary Steve Reed is speaking at the Create Streets Restitch conference in Coventry.

The conference is based on “disagreeing well” and Reed said Boris Johnson had started a US-style divide in UK politics. He said Johnson “saw political advantage in creating division”, comparing him to Donald Trump, and pointed out this has continued with leading Conservatives Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman making “very troubling remarks” in recent weeks. Anderson has been stripped of the Tory whip over his Sadiq Khan comments.

Reed added that in the recent past “Labour lost its anchor in the centre and began to drift leftwards”, and said it had been a “fight” to “connect with voters in the centre”. He said this is happening to the Conservatives, who are facing a revival of “right-wing nationalism”.

Reed says in a Labour government his focus as Defra secretary would be to improve access to nature and green space: “Without nature there would be no economy, no health, no food and ultimately no society” and that “people really do care” about their local green areas.

GB News commissioned People Polling to ask questions of 1,734 people on Thursday in the wake of the budget. The headline figures gave Labour a 46% share of voting intention, with the Conservatives down to 18% and Reform on 13%. It found that “only 47% of 2019 Conservative voters plan to vote Conservative at the next election”.

You can find our poll tracker here, where the updated rolling average gives Keir Starmer a 20.3 point lead over Rishi Sunak as we head towards the election. It puts Labour on 44.4% which would translate to something like 455 Labour seats in the next parliament.

Speaking of International Women’s Day, while the Commons is not sitting today, the House of Lords is, and there will be a debate on the steps taken to promote the economic inclusion of women.

Ex-hedge fund manager, Diana Barran, who set up a domestic abuse charity and who is now a life peer, will lead the debate for the government, two days after a Conservative budget arguably failed to help women. The debate starts at 10am. Here’s my colleague Heather Stewart on how Wednesday’s announcements suggest an unattached man would gain £346 from tax cuts, compared with £279 for a woman.

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has posted to social media with a video clip for International Women’s Day. She points out that despite the job existing for 800 years, there has never been a female chancellor, and describes it as a “special responsibility” were she to be the first one.

She cites Barbara Castle introducing the Equal Pay Act 1970 – the first piece of UK legislation to enshrine the right to pay equality between women and men – but points out the gender pay gap is still 15%. Reeves says she wants to be the chancellor who closes that gap.

I want to be the first female Chancellor, close the gender pay gap once and for all – and deliver for women across our country.

Happy International Women’s Day! #IWD2024 pic.twitter.com/CCV5Julsa1

— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) March 8, 2024

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I want to be the first female Chancellor, close the gender pay gap once and for all – and deliver for women across our country.

Happy International Women’s Day! #IWD2024 pic.twitter.com/CCV5Julsa1

— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) March 8, 2024

Annual data last year showed that the gap remains larger in the public sector at 15.1%. This compares with 8% in the private sector, and both were broadly similar to the previous year’s figures.

If you need you memory refreshing about Theresa May’s time at Number 10, here is a timeline of some of the key events during her turbulent three years in office.

• 14 July 2016 Prime minister Theresa May becomes the UK’s second female prime minister. In her first cabinet, she appoints Boris Johnson as foreign secretary, David Davis as Brexit secretary, and Liam Fox as international trade secretary.

• 17 January 2017 Lancaster House May gives her Lancaster House speech outlining her approach to navigating Brexit. It sets out the red lines that will continue to cause difficulties with her own party two years later.

• 29 March 2017 Triggers Article 50

• 18 April 2017 Snap election Despite having previously ruled it out, May calls a snap general election, accusing opposition parties of trying to jeopardise Brexit preparations.

• 8 June 2017 Loses majority After a disastrous campaign performance, May loses her majority in the Commons. She is forced to do a deal with the DUP to get a working majority.

• 4 October 2017 Coughing fit May’s speech at the Conservative conference lurches from disaster to disaster, as a cough mars her delivery, a protester manages to hand her a P45, and letters start falling off the backdrop behind her.

• 8 July 2018 Davis and Johnson resign After the Chequers summit, David Davis resigns as Brexit secretary over May’s withdrawal agreement with the EU. Boris Johnson follows Davis out the door the next day, claiming the UK was headed ‘for the status of a colony‘.

• 14 November 2018 Withdrawal agreement published The text of the withdrawal agreement is published. It is approved by the EU two weeks later.

• 15 November 2018 Raab resigns May loses a second Brexit secretary as Dominic Raab resigns, saying he cannot support the deal he helped negotiate. Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey resigns the same day.

• 4 December 2018 Contempt May’s government is found to be in contempt of parliament after refusing to publish the full legal advice it received over Brexit.

• 12 December 2018 Confidence vote victory Although more than a third of her MPs vote against her, May survives a Tory vote of no confidence.

• 15 January 2019 Record defeat on Brexit deal May suffers the heaviest parliamentary defeat of a British prime minister in the democratic era, losing a meaningful vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal by a majority of 230.

• 12 March 2019 Second defeat on Brexit deal May’s deal is again voted down by parliament, this time by a majority of 149.

• 27 March 2019 Promises to resign On the day that parliament votes against eight different alternative Brexit options, Theresa May tells her backbench MPs she will stand down as soon as her deal is passed.

• 22 May 2019 Leadsom resigns On the eve of European parliamentary elections the leader of the house, Andrea Leadsom, quits the cabinet. She is unhappy with 10 new commitments May has added to her withdrawal agreement bill in an attempt to get cross-party consensus.

• 24 May 2019 Resignation announced Theresa May announces she will formally resign as Conservative party leader on 7 June, sparking a leadership content that sees Boris Johnson beat Jeremy Hunt to become the next prime minister.

Rishi Sunak’s government has given a vague indication that ultimately they would like to abolish national insurance without giving any clear idea of what would replace the tax revenue it raises. Pressed on this today, treasury minister Gareth Davies has said it could take “several parliaments” to achieve.

He told viewers of Sky News:

The starting point is that we think there’s a fundamental unfairness that if you work in a job you pay two types of tax, you pay income tax and you pay national insurance contributions.

So what we want to do, what we’ve demonstrated at the last two fiscal events, is that we want to get national insurance contributions down to the extent that we remove the unfairness over time.

The long-term ambition, it may take several parliaments, but the long-term ambition is to remove that unfairness. We keep all these things under review, but we want to remove the unfairness of having two taxes for those in work.

My colleague Hilary Osborne had an explainer yesterday on what national insurance is and what it pays for here, if you need a reminder.

Our picture desk has been quick off the mark with this gallery of pictures from Theresa May’s political career, which includes some images you will surely recognise featuring her being handed a P45, Donald Trump, eating chips and dancing …

Among the high profile Conservatives stepping down at the next election are Matt Hancock, Sajid Javid, George Eustice, Dominic Raab, Graham Brady, William Cash, Ben Wallace, Alok Sharma, Chris Grayling, Kwasi Kwarteng, Tracey Crouch and Paul Scully. Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett are perhaps the most prominent Labour MPs standing down, and Caroline Lucas (Green), Mhairi Black and Ian Blackford (SNP) are also very familiar faces from parliament who are not standing again.

Some of the tributes being paid to Theresa May from fellow MPs this morning include this from Andrew Bowie, Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, who said:

I’m so sorry to see the woman I was proud to call boss and remain proud to call a friend standing down from Parliament. It will leave the House of Commons a lesser place. Her dedication to her constituency, her country and her Party is unmatched. Thank you Theresa.

Labour MP Jess Phillips said: “Something very classy about this [May’s statement] being in the Maidenhead Advertiser first. Love her or loathe Theresa May politics, she was famed for being a responsive and involved local MP.”

Gavin Barwell, former Downing Street chief of staff to May said “Very sorry to hear this – both her constituents and the House of Commons will miss her. I hope future PMs will follow her example of remaining as an MP after they leave Number 10 – she has made a number of important contributions over the last five years.”