Former Defra Secretary George Eustice has become the latest Conservative to announce his intentions to stand down as an MP at next month's general election.
Mr Eustice, who was previously Farming Minister before becoming Defra Secretary in 2020 to 2022, said he wanted to pursue a 'final career outside politics'.
The MP for Camborne and Redruth, in Cornwall follows numerous other senior Tories announcing their plans to stand down at the general election.
In a statement, Mr Eustice said: “By the time of the next election, I will have been in politics for 25 years, including almost 15 years as a Member of Parliament.
“I will also be 53 and I want the opportunity to do a final career outside politics so have decided not to seek re-election. This has been a difficult decision for me.
“I feel a deep bond to the area where my family have lived for over 400 years and it has been an honour to represent my home towns, but it is important that the Conservatives are able to select a new candidate in good time.
“There are still almost two years left of the current parliament and I will be doing my utmost throughout that time to help my constituents and deliver for Cornwall.”
Since leaving the role of Defra Secretary in 2022, Mr Eustice, a prominent Brexit supporter, said the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with Australia was "not actually a very good deal”.
He told MPs that the UK 'did not actually need' to give Australia full liberalisation of beef and sheep, as 'it was not in our economic interest to do so'.
The Australia deal was the first trade agreement negotiated from scratch by the UK since Brexit, but farmers warned they would be undercut by cheap, low-quality imports.
