It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as the MP for Stone for the past 26 years and for Stafford before that for 13 years – having received 64% of the vote on a 72% turnout at the last General Election.
I have made the decision to retire at the next General Election. I am now 83 years old and will therefore have served in Parliament for 40 years by the next General Election.
I want to pay tribute to my Association and, in particular, to Roger Barnard (President) and Steven Walley (Chairman), for their loyalty, integrity and professionalism. And to my Executive Committee and Chris Smith (Organising Secretary), and, also, to my former Chairman at Stafford and then Stone. Also, John Prendergast, who was not only my Chairman for many years but also my agent in countless elections. I owe a debt of gratitude to so many, too numerous to mention by name, but it has been a great privilege to have become the longest serving MP in Staffordshire since at least 1900.
I also want to pay particular tribute to my wife, Biddy, for her continuous advice and support.
It has been an enormous pleasure to serve and work with the voters of my two constituencies, firstly representing Stafford in 1984 and then the new constituency of Stone, which was created in 1997. I want to pay tribute to them for their loyalty to me and their common sense over all those years, not to mention the countless letters of kindness and support.
I am deeply indebted to them for everything I have been able to contribute in Parliament. I remain deeply opposed to HS2 and will continue the battle while I remain in Parliament until the General Election.
I want to thank the tireless support of all the Conservative councillors who have worked so steadfastly in the boroughs of Stafford, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands.
I was also glad to have been able to secure the public inquiries into Stafford Legionnaires’ Disease in the 1980s and then Stafford Hospital which together, I am told, saved tens of thousands of lives nationally.
I also want to pay tribute to my constituents and the British people for their decision in the Referendum in 2016 and their endorsement of this in the General Election of 2019.
Regaining sovereignty is the most precious historic, constitutional restoration of democratic self-government for our people. It means that our own voters, through our own elected MPs, can decide the laws by which we are governed. The manner in which European laws were made – which we voluntarily abdicated to the EC/EU in 1972 – was, by our own democratic standards, totally unacceptable. These laws were decided in the Council of Ministers by majority vote of the other 27 countries, behind closed doors without even so much as a transcript, unlike our daily Hansard in the House of Commons. Regaining that control over our laws is a massive restoration of our sovereignty and democracy. I am proud to have played my role as a backbencher in securing that outcome and I also pay tribute to my fellow colleagues in the House of Commons, to whom I owe so much.
Retiring is a big wrench because I love the House of Commons and my constituents. I have done my best over the time, and I thank everyone for what they have done for me.
I am also profoundly and deeply privileged to have been made a Companion of Honour in Boris Johnson’s Resignation Honours.
