James Heappey to quit as Armed Forces minister

James Heappey is set to quit as Armed Forces minister this month and stand down as an MP at the next election amid a row over defence spending.

The former soldier will step down from the post, which he has held since February 2020, to “pursue a different career” in a major blow to Rishi Sunak.

In a letter to his local Tory association in Wells, Somerset, he said that the time had come for him to “step away from politics” and “prioritise my family”.

Mr Heappey, who is considered one of the Government’s safest pair of hands, is the 62nd Conservative MP to announce they are quitting.

Sources close to him insisted his resignation was not a protest over military spending after there was no new money for the Armed Forces in the Budget.

It will nonetheless come as a significant blow to Mr Sunak and will add to the growing sense of pessimism ahead of the next general election.

Mr Heappey’s resignation comes at the end of a brutal week for the Prime Minister with morale within the party at rock bottom.

In the letter to his constituents the Armed Forces minister, a father of two, described the decision to step away from Parliament as a “painful” one.

“I will support Rishi Sunak as our party leader and Prime Minister in government, until such time as he wishes me to step down, and then from the backbenches,” he wrote.

“A great deal has changed in my life over the last few years and I have concluded that now is the time to step away from politics, prioritise my family, and pursue a different career.”

Mr Heappey has been a key figure in the Government’s response to the war in Ukraine and has also argued internally for more spending on defence.

The former soldier served in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq during an eight-year military career in which he rose to the rank of major.

He retired in 2012 and three years later was selected to run for Wells, a historic cathedral sitting, winning the seat in David Cameron’s 2015 election victory.

His resignation after nine years in Parliament comes just a week after Theresa May, the former prime minister, announced she would be quitting.

Mr Sunak has faced a rising tide of MPs standing down ahead of the next election which has created fears there is a “stench of death” around the Tories.

So far 62 have announced they are leaving the Commons, approaching the record of 75 set in the run up to the Labour landslide in 1997.

Some Tory MPs fear that the final number could hit three figures if the election is delayed until this winter given the party’s rock bottom poll ratings.

Richard Foord, the Liberal Democrats’ defence spokesman, said: “This is yet another blow to Rishi Sunak’s authority, as another Conservative minister abandons his failing government.

“Sunak needs to put the country out of its misery and call an election now instead of allowing this farce to drag on any longer.”