Dehenna Davison to stand down as Bishop Auckland MP at election

Dehenna Davison, the Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland, has announced she intends to stand down at the next general election.

The 29-year-old was elected as the County Durham constituency's first ever Tory MP in 2019.

In September, she was appointed as the Under Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up.

Ms Davison said she now wanted to devote more time to "life outside politics - mainly to my family".

She said: "I've dedicated the vast majority of my time to politics, and to help make people's lives better.

"But, to be frank, it has meant I haven't had anything like a normal life for a twenty-something."

She reassured her constituents she "absolutely won't be checking out" and will continue to serve them "with the same gusto and dedication right until the day when I hand the baton onto the next person who will have the honour of representing the amazing people of Bishop Auckland".

She added she was grateful to Conservative Party members who gave "a young, working class lass from Sheffield the opportunity to serve as an MP".

Bishop Auckland Conservatives chairman Luke Allan Holmes said Ms Davison had worked "tirelessly" for the constituency.

"She has been instrumental in securing over £70m of government funding for our area and has given put our area the kind of national spotlight that would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago," he said.