Stone MP Sir Bill Cash announces retirement after 40 years in Parliament

A Tory MP who has served two Staffordshire constituencies for 40 years has announced his retirement. Sir Bill Cash was first elected in Stafford in 1984, in a by-election following the death of previous incumbent Sir Hugh Fraser.

He then stood and won in Stone 13 years later – and the North Staffordshire is where he has remained in ever since, being re-elected in six consecutive elections.

Aged 83 – making him the oldest sitting UK MP – Sir Bill says it will be time to retire when the next election comes round, no later than January 2025. It comes after former Prime Minister Boris Johnson promoted Sir Bill – a Johnson loyalist – to the Order of the Companions of Honour in his resignation honours list. Mr Johnson resigned as an MP yesterday after receiving a copy of the report into ‘partygate’.

Announcing his retirement, prominent eurosceptic Sir Bill paid tribute to the electorate for voting to leave the European Union in 2016.

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Sir Bill said: “Having served since 1984 as the MP for 40 years by the next General Election, in both my former constituency at Stafford for 13 years and then at Stone for 26 years, and now being 83 years old, I have decided to retire from Parliament at the next General Election. I have loved every minute, but it is nonetheless, a big wrench.