Former minister Paul Scully to stand down as Conservative MP: full statement
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Conservative MP and former minister Paul Scully has announced he will stand down at the next general election. He issued the following statement on X/Twitter:
I have told my local association that I will not be standing in the next general election. Over the past nine years I have had the privilege of representing in Parliament the area I have called home for 35 years.
I never intended to retire from politics. It was never a long-held ambition to hold on to, but a way to effect change and add value, which I hope I've managed to do in some small way, even if politics is a long thankless process.
My amazing team and I worked on the issues raised by constituents, including reuniting mothers with children in difficult circumstances and achieving positive outcomes for many who came to me in a desperate situation. Of course, there were many whom I could not help.
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I helped members of the cystic fibrosis campaign, for example [the Cystic Fibrosis Trust] safe, life-changing drugs on the NHS; to change the narrative from a negative 'Save St Helier' to delivering healthcare in our area through £500m public investment and spending time with the growing Tamil, Indian, Ahmadiyya, Hong Kong, Nepalese, Turkish and Bangladeshi diasporas and more known by communities as the Polish community that has called Sutton home for decades.
I have worked constructively with the LibDem council where possible, including our successful bids for Future High Streets funding of £11m and £14m to improve the rail link between Sutton and Belmont, as well as championing the proposed London Cancer Centre.
But as with most of the work I did in Whitehall [a] minister …, there is a lot left unfinished and I hope my Conservative successor can pick it up.
Fueled by division, the party has lost its way and needs a clear focus, which I hope the budget can begin to provide. It needs a vision beyond crisis management that could appeal to a wider range of voters, including young people.
If we focus only on the core votes, eventually this core will reduce to zero. Talk more about housing; primarily renting because home ownership is too far removed from that number. Show genuine connection and empathy to other generations.
Otherwise, we risk driving ourselves into an ideological dead end. The standard deviation model is fair in politics. Most people are in the middle. We can work with a bell curve or become bells. We have to make that decision. I'm afraid the electorate is already there!
At the post of minister of London, he sometimes felt lonely. When London works, Britain works, but to make it happen you have to give it attention, love and care. We should not be disrespectful to Londoners, but take the role of mayor seriously.
Last week's craziness over my poor choice of words in a wider 12 minute interview condemning the very behavior I was accused of shows that you can't build a relationship with society in minutes and that people will choose a simple option is to communicate the division than to understand.
Social media fuels this by diminishing attention spans and confirmation bias. Things are going to get worse before they get better in the next few years. I have already started telling people that I am resigning. It didn't make me decide, but it confirmed that I made the right choice.
The last 9 years have been an incredible roller coaster. I have achieved a lot with post office, hospitality, technology, gambling, local hospital, work in Myanmar and beyond. But I also lost my marriage and saw two colleagues killed. So it's time to pass the baton.
I will continue to represent Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park with pride and diligence in the coming months. My words above speak truth to power, not a sign that I think we should have anything other than a Conservative government.
There are many colleagues in the parliamentary party and new MPs who will respond positively to the challenge. Do it for hardworking councilors and activists. But mostly we do it for the people across the country, for whom we are the voice. / THE END
I have told my local association that I will not be standing in the next general election. Over the past nine years I have had the privilege of representing in Parliament the area I have called home for 35 years (1/16 [sorry!])…
— Paul Scully MP (@scullyp) March 4, 2024
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