Kieran Mullan to stand down as MP at election

Dr Kieran Mullan has been the MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 2019

Conservative MP Dr Kieran Mullan has announced he will not be standing for re-election in Crewe and Nantwich.

Dr Mullan said the boundary review and changes in his personal life had led to him making the decision.

He said politics was still for him in “many ways” but in the long term “it will need to be in a different form for me than as the MP for Crewe and Nantwich”.

Dr Mullan won the seat from Labour in 2019.

In a statement, he said the boundary changes had made a "huge difference" to the seat he had applied for and meant there would be "even more of the relentless party political campaigning".

He said changes in his personal life made the "associated uncertainty that comes with that even more difficult".

The decision does not rule out him standing for another seat, the BBC understands.

Modern politics, he said, meant "an almost 24/7 focus on the press and social media" which he said "never came naturally" to him.

"As a doctor, the job is the job and you just have to get on with it. My decision to go into politics has always been driven by wanting to get things done," he said.

Dr Kieran Mullan was elected in 2019 with a majority of more than 8,000

Dr Mullan won the seat in 2019 for the Conservatives with a majority of 8,508 from Labour’s Laura Smith.

Other Cheshire MPs that have announced they will not stand in their seats include Conservative Eddisbury MP Edward Timpson - who was previously MP for Crewe and Nantwich between 2008 and 2017 and Warrington South Conservative MP Andy Carter.

Labour have announced Cheshire East councillor Connor Naismith as their candidate for the seat and Matt Theobald is to stand for the Liberal Democrats.