Stoke MP to stand down at next election

Stoke-on-Trent MP Jo Gideon has announced she will not be standing at the next general election.

She was elected as the Conservative member for Stoke-on-Trent Central in 2019.

In a statement she said she was proud to have served the area and to champion local businesses and charities, while working with other MPs to secure funding for better transport, homes and jobs.

She added she had not come to the decision lightly, but did not offer in the statement a reason for it.

The move follows a raft of Tory MPs who have expressed similar intention.

Ms Gideon was elected with a majority of 670 in 2019, to a so-called “Red Wall” seat taken from Labour under prime minister Boris Johnson.

She said she “came late to party politics”, first running her partner’s general election campaign in 2001 and joining her party’s candidate list in 2002 before becoming a district councillor for more than a decade.

In 2020, she was part of a Levelling Up taskforce to “spearhead” government efforts to reduce regional inequality.

She said her achievements in Stoke included working to raise awareness of the dangers of button batteries after two-year-old Harper-Lee Fanthorpe swallowed one and died, and raising £10m to remove 23,000 tonnes of waste, thereby reducing, she said, a dangerous fire risk.

In her statement she said it had been a huge honour to represent the people of Stoke-on-Trent, adding that it was also a privilege to serve with prime minister Rishi Sunak.

She added: “I have invested much time and love in my work as the Conservative Member of Parliament for this city that I care deeply about.

“I will continue to do so until the next General Election.”