Mr Amess has been asked to stand again for the 1922 Committee but has declined. In a statement today he said:

“I have greatly enjoyed my time as a member of the 1922 Committee, both under its current chairman Graham Brady and its former chairman Michael Spicer. After the 2010 General Election I felt it was quite important to have some continuity in membership of the Committee, with so many newly elected Members of Parliament. Now, some two years later, there are many of those colleagues who are very able and have a good understanding of how Parliament works. So I think it is the right time to allow the new generation of MP’s, who are in the majority, to have their say on the Executive as to how they think the Conservative Party should operate in the future”.