By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982
Labour MP for Dartford Howard Stoate has said he will step down at the next election because he will no longer be able to practise as a GP under the new second jobs restrictions.
Dr Stoate said he had been re-elected twice since 1997 by voters who knew he was a practising GP, but he now says:
“It is apparent that Labour candidates standing for Parliament at the next election will be expected to give up their outside jobs if they are elected. I respect this view but I think my own contribution to the work of Parliament would be diminished if I was to give up general practice, which is why I have decided not to stand as a candidate at the next general election.”
Dr Stoate is a well respected MP in Westminster, and has served on the House of Commons Health Select Committee, and as a chariman of a number of health-related all-parliamentary groups.
Dr Stoate was elected to Dartford in 1997, taking the Kent seat from the Tories with a swing of some 20%. He retained the seat in 2001 and again in 2005, although with a reduced majority of 706.
A full statement on Dr Stoate’s website, posted this afternoon, reads:
“It has been a privilege to have served as Dartford’s MP since 1997. Over the last twelve years I have worked hard for Dartford and done my utmost to ensure that the interests of my constituents are properly represented in Westminster.
I got involved in politics because I thought it was the quickest and most effective way of making a material difference to people’s lives. I still believe this today and I would say that the same is true of virtually everyone I have ever worked with in Parliament on all sides of House.
When I stood for Parliament in Dartford in 1997 I decided that I wanted to continue to do some work as a medical GP each week if I was elected. I did so because I thought that the House of Commons would benefit from the presence of someone who was still active in medicine and was able to speak with authority about the impact of Government health policy on front-line NHS professionals and patients. I feel that my experience as a GP has helped me enormously in my work on House of Commons Health Select Committee in scrutinising Government policy and as Chairman of a number of health related All Party Parliamentary Groups. I have never allowed my medical responsibilities to interfere with my parliamentary duties and I have always been open and upfront with my constituents about my ongoing work as a GP. The fact that Dartford voters have re-elected twice me as their MP since 1997 knowing that I have continued to practise as a GP, suggests that they too see this as a boon.
It is clear however from the tenor of recent debates in the Commons and from the position taken by senior figures within the Parliamentary Labour Party with regard to the outside work of MPs that this position is no longer tenable. It is apparent that Labour candidates standing for Parliament at the next election will be expected to give up their outside jobs if they are elected.
I respect this view but I think my own contribution to the work of Parliament would be diminished if I was to give up General Practice which is why I have decided not to stand as a candidate at the next general election. It is a decision I take with some sadness, but I feel that I have made a significant contribution to Westminster and to life in Dartford and I look back on my record with a sense of pride and satisfaction.”
More from LabourList
Lou Haigh to reveal ‘roadmap’ for public ownership of railways within first term
Rochdale Labour says brick thrown at candidate’s home with ‘f*** Labour’ note
‘Frank’s poverty mission lives on at his charity – but he’d scrap two-child cap’