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Tracey Crouch will not contest the Chatham and Aylesford seat at the election expected to be held in 2024
By Bob Dale
BBC News, South East
Tracey Crouch, the Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford, has announced she is to stand down at this year's expected election.
Ms Crouch has been an MP since 2010, and served as a minister in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport between 2015 and 2018.
In her letter to her constituency chairman she described her reasons as "entirely personal and positive".
Ms Crouch has recovered from breast cancer after her diagnosis in 2020.
In 2023 she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Breast Cancer Kent.
In her letter she said: "While everyone's cancer journey is different, for me going through a diagnosis and coming out the other side of treatment has been a life affirming experience.
"It has been an opportunity to pause and reflect on my own personal priorities and based on that I truly believe it is time to seek a new professional challenge."
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,Ms Crouch has been the MP for Chatham and Aylesford since 2010
She quit her ministerial post in 2018 and returned to the backbenches over what she claimed was a delay to a crackdown on maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting machines.
She said her "loyalty to the Conservative Party remains as strong as ever".
"I have a great deal of fondness for my constituents," Ms Crouch added.
"There have been battles lost, victories won, but there has never been a dull moment."
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