The Conservative ex-cabinet minister John Gummer has said he will step down
as an MP at the next election to focus on the campaign against climate
change.
The Suffolk Coastal MP said he made up his mind following the
“disappointing” end to the Copenhagen climate summit.
Mr Gummer, MP for the area since 1979, is one of more than 120 MPs to have
announced they are quitting next year.
The Guardian reported he was to join a new pan-European campaign on climate
change due to be launched next month.
In a statement, Mr Gummer, 70, said he had been “forced to rethink my plans
for the future” following the “very disappointing results” of the Copenhagen
negotiations.
After talking to colleagues internationally, he said he realised he could
not commit “to the work that they believe has to be done” while continuing
as an MP.
He said he had taken the decision with “very great sadness” and had
considered it a “privilege” to be an MP for 35 years – he was also a member
from 1970-74.
The former agriculture minister and environment secretary said he had had an
opportunity to play a part in raising the alert about climate change – and
had hoped to continue to do so as a backbencher.
But he added: “Those of us who have any chance to influence the course of
events, even in a small way, have simply to make that our first priority,
however difficult the choice.”
Mr Gummer is a former Conservative Party chairman who served in both
Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s cabinets.
When agriculture minister in 1990 he famously tried to feed his daughter a
burger to convince people British beef was safe from BSE.
Mr Gummer is one of more than 120 MPs who have already said they will step
down next year – many more are expected to announce they will do so in the
run-up to the general election, which must be called by June 2010.