Tory MP Mark Pawsey becomes 14th to announce he will stand down at next election

Mark Pawsey, the MP for Rugby, has confirmed that he will quit Parliament as the deadline approaches for Tory MPs to tell the party whether they wish to seek re-election.

Monday is the last day for prospective candidates to inform Conservative Central Headquarters (CCHQ) whether they plan to stand at the next election, widely expected to be held in 2024.

Mr Pawsey has been the MP for the safe seat of Rugby, where he has a majority of 26.6 per cent, since the Conservatives won back power in 2010.

The majority of his parliamentary career has been spent as a backbencher, apart from a stint as a private secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He increased his majority at every election he contested.

In a statement on social media on Monday afternoon, Mr Pawsey wrote: “After much consideration, I have decided that I will not seek re-election at the next general election.

“It has been an honour to serve the residents of Rugby and Bulkington since 2010, and I will continue to work hard on their behalf throughout my remaining time as their MP.”

In a letter to Cllr Adrian Warwick, the chairman of his local Conservative association, he said it was a “great honour” to have been selected.

He wrote: “It has been my pleasure over my time as our MP to watch Rugby grow in a controlled manner, through new housing and through attracting new businesses, to provide excellent opportunities for the next generation.”

Mr Pawsey is one of 14 Tory MPs to have publicly declared that they will not stand at the next election.

Sajid Javid, the former health secretary, is the most prominent to have confirmed his departure. Others include Dehenna Davison, a minister in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, touted as a rising star of the party. She announced, at the age of just 29, that she will step aside.

Chloe Smith, Liz Truss’s former work and pensions secretary, and William Wragg, an arch-critic of both Boris Johnson and Ms Truss, are also standing down.

The deadline came as Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, confirmed to The Telegraph that he will run at the next election. Sir Iain, who backed Liz Truss’s leadership campaign in the summer, has a majority of just 2.6 per cent in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency.

Last week, The Telegraph revealed Mr Johnson had told local party chiefs that he will stand again in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

However, MPs are under no obligation to publicly declare whether they have chosen to stand or not, and those who do still have the option of stepping aside at a later time before the next election.