MP’s deselection ‘not linked’ to protest against Johnson
A CONSERVATIVE MP deselected by local party officials has said it had “nothing to do” with her decision to resign in protest at Boris Johnson’s leadership.
Theo Clarke, the MP for Stafford, revealed on Friday that a selection committee had not chosen her to stand as the Tory candidate to fight the next general election for a new Stafford constituency with revised boundaries.
David Campbell Bannerman, the chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organisation pressure group, recently said that dozens of sitting MPs could be ousted as part of a “reckoning” by members furious at Mr Johnson’s removal from office.
“A lot of MPs will be coming up for selection and they will be held to account,” he said.
Last July, Ms Clarke resigned a position as UK trade envoy to Kenya in protest at Mr Johnson’s handling of sexual harassment allegations relating to the MP Chris Pincher.
However, last night Ms Clarke told The Sunday Telegraph: “What has happened has nothing to do with Boris.”
Instead, she said there had been “unhappiness from a minority” in her constituency party about her decision to take maternity leave. Ms Clarke – who returned from six months’ leave last week – has described experiencing “abuse” after announcing she was going to have a baby.
She said she had “worked hard for Stafford” and that at times her maternity leave had “been in name only as I have attended meetings, visits and dealt with urgent casework”.
The backbencher – who was first elected in 2019 and is the niece of Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary – also said she had “brought millions in investment” to Stafford.
Ms Clarke now intends to pursue selection by means of the wider Tory membership in her constituency.
“One thing is for sure: I will not be going away and I trust local Conservative members will agree I have done a good job and that a woman has a right to take time off to look after her newborn,” she said.