Former Conservative leadership hopeful Rory Stewart announced that he was running as an Independent candidate for Mayor of London.
“I’m leaving that gothic shouting chamber of Westminster, I’m getting away from a politics which makes me sometimes feel as though Trump has never left London,” Stewart said in a video message posted to Twitter.
The announcement came shortly after he resigned from the conservative party and said he would stand down as an MP at the next election.
It’s been a great privilege to serve Penrith and The Border for the last ten years, so it is with sadness that I am announcing that I will be standing down at the next election, and that I have also resigned from the Conservative Party.
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) October 4, 2019
Stewart was one of the rebel MPs who voted against the government in favour of legislation meant to stop a no-deal Brexit. He tweeted after the vote that he would not step down as an MP.
The former government minister had openly opposed a no-deal Brexit.
Strange that a decision has been made to remove the whip from so many colleagues who were ministers so recently. Particularly when we voted repeatedly for a Brexit deal. I can’t think of a historical precedent. But I am not stepping down as an MP.
— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) September 3, 2019
