Ealing Southall and Leyton and Wanstead MPs to stand down

Two more of London’s Labour MPs have announced their plans to stand down at the general election.

John Cryer, the MP for Leyton and Wanstead and chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party since 2015, said he wanted to spend more time with his young children ahead of an “extremely busy and demanding” future for the next government.

Also standing down, Ealing Southall MP Virendra Sharma said in his resignation letter that after 50 years serving the party in one form or another, it was time for a new chapter.

It takes the number of London MPs resigning to 13 ahead of an election on 4 July.

Mr Cryer, who was MP for Hornchurch from 1997 to 2005, is married to Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign co-ordinator and MP for Lewisham West and Penge.

In an announcement to his constituents, Mr Cryer said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision, perhaps the most difficult I have ever had to make.

“It has been an immense privilege to have served as your MP for the past 14 years.

“As you may know, I have two young children and I feel I should try to spend more time with them.”

Mr Sharma added Labour had “gone from our worst result in a century, to the edge of government”.

In a letter to his local party, he said: “As a British-Indian and as a Hindu, as a Labour member, councillor and MP I have never struggled to reconcile those different, but complimentary, identities.”

The other London MPs standing down, along with constituency (and party) – in order of announcement – are:

• Margaret Hodge, Barking (Labour)
• Harriet Harman, Camberwell and Peckham (Labour)
• Jon Cruddas, Dagenham and Rainham (Labour)
• Matthew Offord, Hendon (Conservative)
• Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon (Conservative)
• Bob Stewart, Beckenham (Conservative)
• Karen Buck, Westminster North (Labour)
• Mike Freer, Finchley and Golders Green (Conservative)
• Bob Neill, Bromley and Chislehurst (Conservative)
• Nickie Aitken, Cities of London and Westminster (Conservative)
• Paul Scully, Sutton and Cheam (Conservative)

Source: House of Commons library