Davison: I am not standing for re-election

DEHENNA DAVISON has become the seventh Tory MP to announce she will stand down at the next election.

The Parliamentary Under-secretary of State for Levelling Up, 29, made history in 2019 by becoming Bishop Auckland’s first Conservative MP. She is the latest in a steady stream of Tories to detail their exit plans amid a slump in the polls. Yesterday afternoon’s announcement came shortly after Sir Gary Streeter said he would not run again in the South West Devon constituency he has comfortably held since it was created in 1997.

Ms Davison is a prominent figure in the so-called Red Wall of former Labour strongholds that Boris Johnson managed to capture for the Tories in the 2019 general election.

In a statement, Ms Davison said: “For my whole adult life, I’ve dedicated the vast majority of my time to politics, and to help make people’s lives better.

“But, to be frank, it has meant I haven’t had anything like a normal life for a twenty-something.”