Sir Patrick Cormack, the veteran Conservative MP, is to stand down at the next election. Sir Patrick, 70, said that the “unhappy events” of recent months had made the working hours at Westminster much more of a burden than before.
Sir Patrick, a historian, journalist and author, is the longest-serving Tory MP after Sir Peter Tapsell.
He was first elected for Cannock in 1970, unseating Jennie Lee, the widow of Aneurin Bevan. He switched to South West Staffs — now South Staffs — in February 1974 and has represented the constituency ever since.