Two ministers quit government in mini-reshuffle

Robert Halfon and James Heappey have both announced they will not stand at the next election. The resignations are part of a trend of Conservative MPs standing down. Some, like Theresa May and Dominic Raab, are veterans. Others, like Dehenna Davison and Nicola Richards, are relatively young.

Before the 2010 election, 150 MPs announced they would stand down, mainly from the Labour party. All of them want to do something else with their lives. But every Conservative can also read the opinion polls which suggest the Tory party could soon be in opposition. Mr Halfon said he believed there was a quiet admiration for Mr Sunak across the country in his resignation letter.

Gandhir: I have no longer any fear at all for any of you. I am not to set things to rights, nor to help anyone else do so. I will continue to do so until the end of this parliament. He was speaking to the House of Commons’ select committee on Wednesday.

Mr Heappey said he had “loved every minute”" in the department. But behind the scenes he was unhappy at the level of military spending. He issued a departing plea this week for the defence spending target of 2. 5% of GDP.

Mr Heappey and Mr Halfon join a growing exodus of Tory MPs from the Commons, currently tallying 63. The MPs number of MPs standing down it is broadly in line with the 90 who quit in 2015. 149 quit before the 2010 election that followed the expenses scandal and saw Labour ejected from power after 13 years.