Harlow’s Conservative MP Robert Halfon has quit his Government job as a junior education minister and confirmed he will not stand in the next General Election.
The popular 55-year-old, who has held the former Labour seat since 2010, has increased his majority to over 14,000 in the past 14 years.
Just weeks after the Prime Minister visited Harlow, Mr Halfon wrote to Rishi Sunak to announce his decision today (Tuesday, March 26). He posted the letter alongside a missive to the chair of Harlow Conservative Association, Cllr Michael Garnett, on the social media site X, formerly Twitter.
He told Mr Sunak: “After well over two decades as the Harlow parliamentary candidate and as MP, I feel that it is time for me to step down at the forthcoming General Election, and in doing so, to resign as a minister in your Government.
“I believe that across the country, there is quiet admiration for your work ethic, integrity and ability to solve complex problems faced by our country.”
He added that he would “wholeheartedly support” the Government from the backbenches.
In his letter to the constituency chair, he quoted J R R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings character Gandalf: “I am with you at present…but soon I shall not be. I am not coming to the Shire…My time is over: it is no longer my task to set things to rights nor to help folk to do so. And as for you, my dear friends, you will need no help…among the great you are, and I have no longer any fear at all for any of you.”
He said: “Although I often feel more like the character Bilbo Baggins than Gandalf, I believe these words have great resonance and perfectly capture my feelings as I move onto my next journey in life.”
Mr Halfon was the 63rd Tory MP to stand down and his decision piles pressure on his party amid fears the number of Conservatives standing down could hit three figures. Before Labour’s 1997 landside, 75 quit.
His resignation came on the same day James Heappey ended his stint as an armed forces minister, having confirmed he is standing down as MP for Wells in Somerset.
Mr Halfon’s Harlow constituency currently includes Sheering, Matching, Hastingwood, Nazeing and Roydon and atthe next General Election, it will also encompass Hatfield Heath, Hatfield Broad Oak and Great and Little Hallingbury in Uttlesford.
In 2001 and 2005, he was second to Labour’s Bill Rammell before taking the Harlow seat for the Tories in 2010, 2015 and 2017.
In 2019, Mr Halfon polled 27,510 votes, up 9.5%, to secure 63.5% of the ballots and a majority of 14,063. Labour was in second place with 13,447 votes (31%) and the Liberal Democrats took third with 2,397 (5.5%). His victory represented an 8.4% swing on a 63.7% turnout.
Former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary David Cameron once quipped Mr Halfon was the most expensive backbencher in Britain after his relentless campaigning for drivers meant fuel duty was frozen for 14 years.
Baron Cameron also made him a cabinet member from May 2015 to July 2016 as a minister without portfolio and he served in Theresa May’s Government as an education minister.
He went on to chair the House of Commons Education Select Committee from 2017 to 2022 - when he was appointed the Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education.
He championed plans to build Stansted Airport College, campaigned hard for a new Princess Alexandra Hospital and, proud of his Ashkenazi and Sephardic heritage, has been a stalwart supporter of the Jewish community.
Mr Halfon, who was born with mild cerebral palsy and walks using crutches, shares his Harlow constituency office with Hertford and Stortford MP Julie Marson.