Are MPs really fleeing parliament in their droves, having decided that it’s just too mean and dysfunctional a place to stay? There have been so many resignations over the past couple of weeks that you might be forgiven for wondering if there will be any MPs, let alone women MPs, in Westminster at all after the next election.
There are currently 61 MPs who’ve said they won’t fight again at the next election, double the number who stepped down two years ago in 2017. If you combine these two snap elections, the figure only just passes the 90 who stood down in 2015, which was considered a fairly normal number. So there isn’t a horde of members deserting a sinking ship. There’s always a reasonable turnover of MPs retiring at the end of a long career, or slinking out after realising that they’re not going to achieve much. But two things make this cohort unusual: firstly, many of them such as Amber Rudd, Nicky Morgan, Seema Kennedy, Gloria de Piero, Mark Lancaster and Owen Smith are in their political prime, with years of service and career highs ahead of them: 21 are leaving after less than a decade on the green benches and many are nowhere near retirement age.
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