I have decided not to put my name forward in the forthcoming election. I have other things I wish to do.
It has been a privilege to represent Wokingham in nine Parliaments. I have drawn many of my campaigns from the views I have heard on doorsteps and read in my email box. We have achieved good things together for our local community and the wider nation.
I was pleased to help local Conservative Council candidates win seats in the recent local elections. We stopped the Lib Dems winning a majority despite their forecasts by highlighting the big damage they are doing to our roads, the money they waste, their neglect of public spaces and the way they are worsening our refuse service.
I will be continuing my website, maybe with some changes. I will continue to contribute to the debates about public policy. Any  references remaining on this site to my work as an MP will after next Thursday be about the past.
May 24, 2024
Oh no! This is a monumental loss. And a shock. I thought you had decided to continue.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for providing such a stimulating commentary on so many issues. It has been a privilege to read and comment on your thoughts. Many good wishes for your future endeavours.
May 24, 2024
I think you are the 77th or 78th to leave the useless Uni Party. Just imagine 85 seat majority of which 78 leave!
Let us hope Tice makes you a Lord so could be chancellor in his cabinet for a real Conservative Party!
May 24, 2024
Gove and Leadsom on the runway as well! Are there any conservatives left in the socialist pro EU Sunak party?
May 25, 2024
Sir John’s Conservative views, high intellect and common sense are the reasons why he has been kept by his Lessers from a position of real influence for the past couple of decades. I wish John well in wherever life now takes him. Thank you, Sir John, for this valuable site which has given so much, to so many of us, over the years.
May 24, 2024
As the Vulcans say :’live long and prosper’!
May 25, 2024
đ+1
May 24, 2024
Indeed a terrible loss indeed.
If only your party and parliament had taken your advice over the 37 years that you have been such an excellent MP (and even more service as a County Councillor). Your advice on the size of government, the ERM, the EURO, the EU, energy, tax levels, immigration levels, law and order, transport, defence, housing, renewables, the economy⊠and so much else should all have been followed.
Had they done so the country would have saved ÂŁbillions, crime would be far lower, GDP per head would be far higher, we would have be so much better off in so very many ways. Your party would not then have been in the Socialist mess it is currently in.
So why on earth has Sunak gone early? Seems bonkers to me? What right does he have to scuttle the ship. Is it just for his personal reasons. Is it because he thinks inflation will go up again and interest rates not go down or even go up, the boat people will further increase, immigration levels will remain out of control, GDP per cap continue to decline, law and order decline further⊠The last thing the country needs is even more mad socialism from Starmerâs Labour Party after far too much already from Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak.
You should at the very least have been Chancellor. You would have been far better than all the ones we largely suffered under over my lifetime.
May 24, 2024
Nigel Farage said he was going to launch himself next week as a candidate to run for parliament… he wondered if the short notice election had anything to do with that. He’s now withdrawn.
May 24, 2024
Agree about contribution but as ever zero political antennae nor understanding of your generational gap.
May 24, 2024
I donât believe Sunak has an original thought or plan, someone or some group is pulling his strings âŠ.and its being reported that the early election is due to insufficient resources to fund tax cuts âŠwhere has all the money gone
May 24, 2024
Welfare and foreign causes including illegal immigrant costs that are rising daily!! No one gets deported.
May 24, 2024
Welfare, immigration, public sector, all the usual things Socialists waste our money on.
May 24, 2024
Mrs Thatchers greatest mistake. She did not take care of the inheritance by promoting the best.
Appeasement always leads to defeat.
Sir John is wasted, and with so few votes even his vital vote will not be enough.
May 24, 2024
Seconded.
May 24, 2024
Such a shame but I can understand that there is no longer a Conservative party for you to represent.
I see Klaus Shwab is retiring from the WEF so perhaps you could apply there
That would shake things up with a sensible person incharge.
Good luck, OK, on your future and thanks for putting up with us.
May 24, 2024
One suspects JR is not exactly the type of person this, rather evil, organisation is seeking.
May 24, 2024
It mightâve died a few years ago but the formal death notice of the conservative party will published on the 4th of July
May 24, 2024
I agree with Lynn, but I wish you well with whatever you have decided to go on to do, John.
May 24, 2024
Agreed. Your absence from the HoC in the next parliament will leave it a diminished assembly. It will be the Conservative party’s misfortune that it did not pay more attention to your advice. I wish you well for the future. No doubt you will find a platform to advance your common sense views on the direction of travel the UK should follow.
May 24, 2024
Good morning, Sir John.
As they say, all good things come to an end. I am sure the people of Wokingham, your party and indeed many Conservatives will feel your loss. I believe you to be a good man and constituency MP. It is such a shame that those that have enjoyed power have not sought your services and great experience.
I would also like to thank you for providing us with this site. We have not always agreed, but that’s politics đ I have, every morning since I believe 2012 come to this site to read and reply to what you have written. I have also enjoyed the many comments my fellow posters have made and, if I am correct, I can imagine that this will continue, something I and many others appreciate. It was no easy task having to come up with things new ‘EVERY DAY !!’
Good luck, wherever life takes you.
Mark B
May 24, 2024
Well said.
Having this site to visit, enjoy, learn from and contribute to is a great gift. Thank you. Sir J. shows he listens to the voter, unlike so many of his colleagues. Best wishes Sir J for your future endeavours, and now you can debate us and others freely. GB News?
May 24, 2024
Do you think GB News will be allowed to exist after July 4th?
May 24, 2024
If Starmer gets in we should expect to lose a lot more than GB News. Starmer reminds me of the rabbit staring into the oncoming headlights just before the inevitable…. I think he is constantly surprised by the responses to his naive pronouncements.
Here’s another idea for Sir J., what about a book called…’When and Why did the Conservative Party stop being conservative?’
You could probably make the title a bit snappier..
May 24, 2024
I agree Mark, this will be a great loss to all the population of Great Britain as very few politicians really understand the economics of our country. Most just parrot what they are told and do not have the intelligence to challenge the narrative! Sir John will be a great loss to the population as he did a lot to keep Westminster on the straight and narrow with all our finances
Thank you Sir John..
May 24, 2024
John will still be part of the population, and the debate I hope!
May 24, 2024
hear hear
May 24, 2024
The Conservative party will miss you, though it is they who have moved from you and the tenets of conservatism. It will allow you to speak and think freely away from the constraints of membership. I wish you well in whatever you may pursue.
May 24, 2024
Yes. End of an era – you will be sadly missed as our local MP Sir John.
Thank you so much for your years of service to Wokingham.
May 24, 2024
Now that I have got over the shock, it could be that Redwood unleashed – not having to defend what has become the indefensible, could be a much more powerful voice for Britain.
I am grateful Sir John, that you canât leave conservatism because itâs an integral part of you. And your contribution to the debate and influence is much prized.
There is truly nothing left in that fake party now and they have dropped 6 point!
We may as well finish them off.
We need an honest patriotic party for the future.
May 24, 2024
Ah. Is that the failed South Molton declaration raising its head again.
Patriotic. jingoism wrapped in a flag. How very 19th and early 20th century. In the multi cultural society we have now hardly a vote winner.
May 24, 2024
Want me to speak Zulu? I can – can you?
May 24, 2024
Morning Sir John,
It is sad to hear that you won’t be standing this time as you have been a great constituency M P.
I would like to thank you for the many years of hard work and effort you have put in to representing Wokingham over the decades and I wish you well in all you decide to pursue.
I hope we get someone as dedicated and knowledgeable as yourself to represent us and that we don’t get someone imposed on us by Conservative Central Office.
Again many thanks for your efforts over the years.
May 24, 2024
Poor WokinghamâŠlooks like it will be a LibDem
Dreadful.
Mind you it certainly looks set for Labour here!
Everything looks darker by the day.
My first comment on this horrible day has disappeared.
May 24, 2024
Thanks and best wishes for the future Sir John.
May 24, 2024
What a loss and a shame.
This means you have given up on your party as well?
May 24, 2024
The party you faithfully served has let you down, very badly.
I’m glad to see you will continue with this website, it has been very informative for me on many issues.
May 24, 2024
Yes. “Redwood Unleashed” will be very interesting đ
May 24, 2024
Maybe a political commentator on GB News âŠthe Redwood Hour
May 24, 2024
Yes indeed !
May 24, 2024
+1 Once Sir Kier Starmer gets in there will be even more insanities to protest against. Let us hope against hope Labour does not win the huge majority as is expected.
Starmerâs policies are a total disaster, rather like Suankâs but even worse. The moronic and evil destruction of many excellent private schools for example and the policy to deter the rich from arriving and encouraging them to leave with his Non Dom vandalism. Neither will even raise net funds. The evil politics of envy, pure and hugely damaging vandalism. They want nearly everyone to have no alternative to the usually rather dire state schools.
May 24, 2024
You canât vote for Reform for fear of encouraging them to ditch FPTP. That will mean the end of the voter EVER being able to sack the Government.
May 24, 2024
but it would also mean about one third of the electorate actually being represented – not known for decades!
May 24, 2024
All the electorate is represented. Whether you voted for the winner or not. Did you not know that?
May 24, 2024
Indeed. A sad loss to Parliament, but your Party no longer deserves you or your loyalty. Perhaps you could help, advise and guide Reform through this election as the Tory Party needs to be irradicated to start again with right of centre “conservative values”? Hopefully good will come out of this bad era for the Tory’s who have masqueraded as conservatives whilst acting and introducing socialist liberal pro globalist EU policies. Totally disloyal to their members and electorate.
May 24, 2024
You will be missed in Parliament Sir John you are a true gent and politician , thank you for all your hard work you have carried out in Westminster and all the very best for the future for yourself and your family
May 24, 2024
Thatâs a bit of a shock!
But honestly why put oneself through all that ( it is clear the Wokingham election will be beyond the pale..but we all know how the left fightsâŠ.dirty!)
Politics is no longer a game for decent people.
Leave it to the ghastly LibDems with their unpleasant and undeserved ad hominem accusations.
Let them and Westminster get on with it.
I do not wish them well.
May 24, 2024
Sir John,
That’s a real shock and loss to the Conservative party. So, thank you for all you have done for Wokingham and British politics your voice and support for true conservative values will be greatly missed.
I am no longer in the Wokingham constituency but had already decided to vote for Pauline regardless of her chances of winning.
Best wishes and success for your future ventures đ
Reply I will not be losing my voice
May 24, 2024
A very great loss indeed. Thank you for all your excellent service Sir John.
A great shame those in power all had unlike yourself fairly broken compasses 180 degrees out on most things like, throw in the towel six month early, Rishi Sunak.
Best wishes for the future.
May 24, 2024
You certainly should be elevated directly to the House Lords then perhaps there would be about 20 sensible people there – from the circa 800 members. Why did Ann Widecombe not make it – rather too sensible I assume.
May 24, 2024
Well the Conservatives have generally been fairly deluded left wing most of my lifetime, pro EU and latterly climate alarmist nutters too. Ted Health, John Major, Dave Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak.
Even Mrs Thatcher failed to cut the state back sufficiently, failed to sort out the dire NHS free at the point of rationing, incompetence and delay system (grossly unfair state competition), buried us ever more deeply into the EU, latterly fell for the climate alarmist con trick, failed to cut taxes sufficiently, closed very many good grammar schools, appointed the extremely dim John Major as Chancellor and even let him take us into the disaster of the ERM (with a view to joining the EURO disaster) against the wise advice of JR and her economic advisor Sir Alan WaltersâŠ
May 24, 2024
Gets my vote
May 24, 2024
Reply to comment.
We all have a voice Sir John, but fewer and fewer of us are allowed to be heard……
May 24, 2024
The more sensible the voice the less it is listened to so often it seems.
1.9 million net migration in the last three years. So that is about 7 times the 100,000 PA promised by Cast Rubber Cameron.
May 24, 2024
LL,
You should be good on numbers. You are wrong. Over 4,000,000 imported in just over two years, the traitor govt. do not decide who leaves and only estimate who has left.
May 24, 2024
A shock indeed but also relieved at John’s reply above, that we will continue to have his voice. The louder the better as far as I’m concerned. Like others, I thank you sincerely for all you continue to do and have done. Every good wish in whatever direction you take Sir John.
May 24, 2024
As a Wokingham constituent – thank you for your service and all the best for the future.
Parliament will lose a clear voice of sense and experience and we can only hope, with the boundary changes, your replacements will establish themselves quickly and contribute as much to constituents and government.
May 24, 2024
Perhaps you’ll get David Cameron in the Wokingham seat he’s more lib dem than the lib dems anyway.
May 24, 2024
It is not the political parties of Westminster who are under threat, they being the masters of their own success or destruction. The real threat is to democracy itself when 46% of the polled electorate are currently saying a pox on all your houses.
Those fighting against democracy are formidable. The EU, who have their own totalitarian view of it. Sail under its flag but ignore its tenets. Our own government who swept themselves to power on an in house ticket. The civil service who demand to rule because they got into the habit while we were in the EU. The judiciary and legal profession because they fail to accept the rule of Parliament, prefering that of the EU when it suits them. The senior management of the police force, prefering their own social science. The trade unions in pursuit of a dated agenda. The banks still acting in accordance with EU residual law. Devolution or the dilution of democracy as it is currently pursued in most of its forms. Any other organisation like criminality that I have left out.
All are currently acting in their own vested interests and against the interests of the people of the UK. Yes the people can vote, but 46% of them are saying that the goods for sale are not fit for purpose. They know that the anti democratic forces will still be in place, whoever they vote for. We need a very strong government with a democratic mandate to redress the balance, and people like our host to hold its feet to the fire. Sadly I see no prospect of it happening this time round.
May 24, 2024
Yes you can vote, but only two or three candidate in FPTP have any chance so the other votes are wasted given the many always have always will vote C, L, LD⊠voters. Plus once elected they will not do as promised anyway they respond to party not voters in general. Direct democracy is the real & only meaningful democracy with modern IT it is easy to organise – we could vote every day on several issues. The catch 22 is the incumbents in power are the only people who can change the system. Plus if they do so it will be for their vested interests not the interests of the voters at all.
May 24, 2024
Promise, for example to reduce immigration âto the tens of thousandsâ, give a cast iron guarantee of a referendum on the EU Lisbon treaty, promise a 1M IHT THRESHOLD each, claim you are âlow tax at heart Conservativeâ and a Eurosceptic to get elected then deliver 700,000 PA, and defraud the electorate on all the others delivering ever higher tax and dire public services in return.
As Lord Cameron did for example. Then they even want to be voted back in.
May 24, 2024
Well Sir John you have been a stable constant in an ever changing political scene.
Good luck for your future activities. Sadly the Tory Party needs more conservatives not less. Your absence will be noticed.
May 24, 2024
Agreed.
May 24, 2024
You and your party will not be missed. You have set this country back decades.
May 24, 2024
Yes, thousands of female victims of Labour’s sewer racist and religious politics is just what we need right now…not
Tory leaders might be repugnant reprobates but compared to the destructive poison and rancidity of Labour they’ll seem like choirboys
May 24, 2024
Agreed.
But then JR âs party morphed into a left wing hybrid with extreme left wing ideology rapidly taking over. He has consistently stood and fought against what you criticise.
So definitely NOT his party any more.
We now only have one party ( the commie Uniparty) and it is dragging us into previously unseen poverty, misery and totalitarian rule.
I can see, hear and smell it out there.
May 24, 2024
Agree, the tory parliamentary party is the new-new labour party
May 24, 2024
Absolute nonsense. Sir John has upheld true Conservatism in the face of mealy-mouthed, lying, leftie, gender confused, car hating, profit hating pretend colleagues. The shame is that he’d rather walk away proud than go Independent.
The decision means I likely will not vote – I was torn between wanting to support Sir John and finding it so hard to vote Conservative.
We, the constituents, the wider electorate, the people out there with honesty, integrity will find this a very sad day!
May 24, 2024
+1
May 24, 2024
Hear Hear. Letâs hope the rabid left of which Paul is obviously a member, will have learned something by shadowing this blog over the years. Letâs also hope he is first in the firing line of the IMFs clamp down on Benefits payments.
May 24, 2024
Regrettably that is what is wrong with most Labour supporters – no common sense and no judgment
May 24, 2024
What a nasty comment.
May 24, 2024
Paul,
Just wait for Mr. Miliband and his Net Zero ideas to try to take us back centuries!
Either Net Zero will be ditched or we’ll be an authoritarian feudal or Communist police state. Its not pre-industrial CO2 levels that the climate activists seek but pre-industrial living standards as evidenced by the fact that they have no issues with China’s CO2 emissions and hinder nuclear, the only low CO2 emitting energy source that is affordable, abundant and reliable.
May 24, 2024
Oh no !!!
Sir John you are too good for the now Conservative Party. Thank you for your service to our Country, your dedication to the truth is admirable. I fear greatly for the future for my Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.
I wish you good luck, health and happiness.
May 24, 2024
As one who has consistently read your daily blog from virtually its inception, I do wish to thank you not just for that and for your active and effective parliamentary services, but particularly for your so successful campaigning to achieve Brexit. Indeed many thanks.
May 24, 2024
It’s not been achieved yet, Duyfken. Kemi has been whirling worldwide with agreements with the Gulf; India; the CPTPP is ratified and ready to be signed, but all is now up in the air. Do you think Starmer will commit to signing them? I doubt it. We’re about to be sold down the river.
May 24, 2024
Thanks a-Tracy, and I am aware of all you say. That does not negate the fact that JRâs excellent contribution to the Brexit campaign was impressive, important and indeed successful.
May 24, 2024
+1 alas Starmer will take us in effect largely back in – Sunak/Boris have already betrayer NI.
May 24, 2024
A sad day Sir JR. Wokingham will miss you and those of us who arrive at this blog every morning will miss your incisive views. It’s been a welcome opportunity to communicate directly with a member of Parliament.
Thanks, and best wishes for the future.
May 24, 2024
Sir john has announced his decision here on the blog, before the media have picked it up. Many thanks.
He has held his Wokingham seat since 1987.The seat is currently centred on the southern part of Wokingham district, including a small part of the east of West Berkshire. Interestingly, in December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, suggesting they did not see it as winnable. However, the recent gerrymandering of the consituency borders has given the Lib Dems an advantage.
This must have been a difficult decision for Sir John. However, one must look to the future and I suspect that he has something lucrative lined up to occupy his time. Mrs Gold and myself wish Sir John good luck.
Reply The new seat polled better for the Conservatives in 2019 than my current one. My decision not to stand again was not based on any concern about the local voting patterns.
May 24, 2024
Let us hope they find a good replacement, they will struggle to find one as sound as you have been.
May 24, 2024
The new seat predicted an increased majority for Sir John. However the Conservative Party might well not even be the Official Opposition.
May 24, 2024
What a loss to the cause of conservatism, but life moves on.
I thank you you for the understanding you have given me, especially on financial matters and I will of course continue to read your website.
May 24, 2024
The House of Commons will be poorer without you.
May 24, 2024
Very True
May 24, 2024
Mr Redwood
Good on you. Enjoy life while you can. Good fortune in all that you do.
May 24, 2024
Sir John, a bit of a shock at first, but as you are firstly an honourable and honest man, and a Politician secondly, on reflection not a surprise. I can see it would be very difficult for you to support the Conservative party as it has know become.
There is not much to support in any of the big three Parties and it can only be hoped that you and others can come together and get us out of this mess and real danger the UK is now in.
I thank you for all the work you have done, some I may not have agreed with, but there is still more for you to do and influence for the better in the World of UK Politics đ
May 24, 2024
I’m very sorry to hear that you’ve decided to stand down, Sir John. You’re one of the good ones and we already have precious few of those in Parliament, with it likely to get a great deal worse.
I hope your new ventures are successful.
However, your Party’s utter failure for 14 years to pursue policies which were even remotely Conservative; its treachery after Brexit; the appalling immigration figures and the twin Covid and Net Zero Tyrannies mean I can’t possibly vote for it.
May 24, 2024
Thank you to you as well Sir John.
A political life well lived, sticking to your principles.
Enjoy what comes after I wish you well.
May 24, 2024
That was a real shock. I can only say I understand how frustrating it must have been for you, to have worked hard for years trying to get your party to do the right thing, but being constantly ignored. Nearly every other day I shook my head in amazement at your patience, as I read how you put questions to dimwit ministers that they probably couldn’t even properly understand, never mind answer. From time to time you were able to make the voice of common sense heard in what was once our great Parliament. Who will do that now? You will be missed.
May 24, 2024
Good luck in your future endeavours and thank you for your service.
May 24, 2024
You will be badly missed as one of most careful, assiduous and intelligent MPâs whose experience and expertise has been wilfully overlooked by a succession of hapless Prime Ministers. I have consistently failed to understand why you were overlooked while others less able and experienced were appointed. Tragically, from Brexit onwards we have been witnessing the disintegration of the Conservative Party. They have effectively by their myriad policy failures betrayed their core voters preferring to pander to left leaning liberals and endorsing the ideology of minorities. They now face the prospect of obliteration. Yes, this morningâs daily email was quite a surprise and not a good one. I wish you every success in the years ahead.
May 24, 2024
Sir John,
Thank you so much for all the time that you have put into this blog. I have learnt so much.
On this momentous day I am pleased that you will continue with it.
I wish you every success in your new ventures and look forward to seeing where it takes you.
Many, many thanks
May 24, 2024
The Conservatives no longer deserve you, Sir John. You have been a tireless proponent of policies most of them no longer believe in, because for the most part they believe in taking instructions from elsewhere. Thank you for making it clear in your parliamentary work and in your diary that you are still ‘speaking for England’, when they are not. Thank you also for every day giving ordinary members of the public the chance here to agree or disagree with you. This site is a good example of what free speech and debate should look like. Parliament isn’t, and you’ll be well out of it!
May 24, 2024
Well said Hat-Man
May 24, 2024
Here in Maidenhead the Labour party has made a quick start with a leaflet delivered yesterday. The most useful parts relate to the boundary changes with a large western chunk of the present Maidenhead constituency joining up to Wokingham while new Maidenhead acquires swathes to the south. Most likely the Labour candidate, not the Liberal Democrat, will now be the lead contender to replace Theresa May, who also is not standing again. I guess this may also change the electoral balance in Wokingham. I am waiting to see if Reform will put up a candidate here, a while ago there was a name and I said I would sign his nomination papers but I have heard nothing from him since. I am wary because in 2019 I offered to help the prospective Brexit candidate but she was pulled out.
May 24, 2024
You, and your wise advice, will be missed.
Enjoy your (semi) retirement.
Reply I am not retiring and have plenty I wish to say and contribute
May 24, 2024
Good. Your sage advice may have more influence than most of us. We will need that when the arithmetic seems like we’ll end up with the unwanted Starmer and his appalling team. To add insult to injury we’ll all be scammed to pay for it.
May 24, 2024
Yay, you go John.
Please don’t allow people to denigrate the last 14 years and say nothing was achieved on your blog. People didn’t just re-elect your party once they chose Conservative twice more after you got rid of the coalition partners in 2015.
The Country had an opportunity to overturn Brexit; the Lib Dems were going to sign us straight back in. Labour’s position in Nov 2019 was: “A Final Say Referendum on EU membership held under a Labour government would be legally binding, and its outcome would be implemented immediately, Jeremy Corbyn has declared…Labourâs manifesto commits the party to renegotiating a Brexit deal and striking an agreement on future relations with the EU within three months of taking power and staging a public vote by June 2020. The document rules out a no-deal Brexit if Labour wins the 12 December election”
The Country gave a massive majority to Boris, the twists and turns since then to stop it
May 25, 2024
We chose the âin/out referendumâ rather than âDaveâ and then we held our nose and accepted Johnson to get Brexit implemented.
The British public vote for political imperatives – personalities are of secondary importance.
May 25, 2024
Do you think it doesnât matter that Sunak is now leader? I disagree, his personality is a big switch off.
Do you think it matters that his one big policy announcement today was compulsory national service for 18 year olds! Without giving those walking into this compulsion along with his stupid Maths for all to 18 policy any say.
Sunak is purposefully trying to lose. Starmer offers them a vote at 16 and Sunak says heâs going to conscript them or force them into voluntary community service (free? Unpaid slave labour against their will). His personality is of primary importance to me and many others, heâs making policies up on the hoof to screw this up for decent Tory MPs who donât deserve this.
May 24, 2024
You have been a beacon of steadfast conservatism in good times and in bad ones. You will be missed.
May 24, 2024
Hear! Hear!
May 24, 2024
A great loss for true Conservatism but hopefully freedom for you to continue fighting for it.
Reply I am not lost nor going into retirement.
May 24, 2024
Sir John if you establish a new âConservative Way Forwardâ you could easily have the biggest Conservative movement in the country, a Conservative country crying out of a means of expressing its true politics.
May 24, 2024
“Blow the bloody doors off” Sir John.
Reply Usually better to open them
May 24, 2024
opening doors is usually essentially soundless – sometimes kicking them in makes much needed sense!
May 24, 2024
Both Wokingham and the UK owe an immense level of thanks to you SJR, in appreciation of all you have done for all of us over so many years.
Your fine work, insight, debating skills, solid rationale and consistently high quality performance achieved much difference in contributing to better for our country.
Parliament will be a lesser place in your absence until some bright new entrants emerge and develop to fill such a gap. The continuity of your views on public policy will help guide others who need leading toward a brighter future for the UK.
Best wishes for happiness in whatever you do.
May 24, 2024
Dear Mr. Redwood,
Congratulations are in order. You can look back with great pride on a successful political career at Westminster characterised by your steadfastness of view and devotion to the Conservative Party.
Yours will be a great loss to the House which is fast running out of politicians of conviction.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your years of service and for providing this site for us to express our opinions. Your standing down will be a great loss to the Tories but since Thatcher, your talent has never been used and appreciated, they do not deserve you.
Itâs so sad that this Government has squandered an 80-seat majority and cemented the UK’s ultimate destruction. They could have stayed in power for decades if only they had delivered on their promises.
May 24, 2024
Sorry to hear this. Best wishes in all forthcoming efforts and enterprises.
May 24, 2024
I wish you all the very best with your next endeavours, Sir John. I shall continue to read your daily blog.
As I said in my comment on the Telegraph article about you stepping down. You are a true gentleman who has tried very hard to advise the government to keep to a conservative direction of travel. Sadly, to no avail!
May 24, 2024
Thanks for the hard work John.
We need more like you.
May 24, 2024
Good to hear the blog is to continue, I started following it when Sir John was (I think) the only MP in Parliament to oppose Brownâs bank bailout. His approach was right and Brownâs was wrong. The non-bailout approach is now widely accepted globally, with Silicon Valley Bank the most recent example of how to handle a bank collapse without a huge waste of taxpayer money and assumption of liabilities. How wrong the left, the blob, and Iâm afraid most of the Conservative Party were on that issue!
It has been an excellent source of thought provoking views and information since then. Iâve agreed with most – though not all – of Sir Johnâs views.
All the best for the next stage.
May 24, 2024
Congratulations on putting your other priorities first against what may have been the easier decision to just continue with the known.âThank you for the near-daily opportunity to hear your succinct, candid views, and for wading through all the replies, including mine.
I’ve found trying to put thoughts into writing here forces clarity on them as flaws stand out much more readily in type.âAbandoning more than one reply here, I’ve realised I had more to learn and think about.âThanks for the daily impetus.
May 24, 2024
That is a great loss to the House of Commons, and to the Conservative Party, but there comes a time…., and you have certainly done your bit for a great many people. I am very glad you are keeping this blog going and very much look forward to the next phase!
May 24, 2024
Too bad for the Tories, when they lose someone who has won the seat for them in nine general elections. But then again, I wonder if Reform is still looking for a Wokingham candidate…
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your past services and best wishes for whatever you choose to do going forward. Our democracy (if we ever really had one) is crumbling and there is much to do to resist the globalists’ desire and intent to control us all for their benefit.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for keeping this website going. It is interesting to see views of people I don’t often agree with.
I now have family living in Wokingham. I think they would be happier with a LibDem MP.
May 24, 2024
Many feel the same – just shows you how shallow voters have become!
May 24, 2024
Peter
They should be careful with what they wish for, their candidate is not a good one !
May 24, 2024
………………….I think they would be happier with a LibDem MP……………….. Yes of course you would Peter. What a shock, said no-one, ever about your absurd anti democratic political views. Good luck with that EU superstate!!
May 24, 2024
They may yet be disappointed. They should think of moving to the Continent.
May 25, 2024
They might be happier. They will be poorer.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your service. One of a dwindling band of politicians who actually represent Britain.
May 24, 2024
Sir John
I wish to add my thanks to you as our MP, you have done a Stirling job and served us in Wokingham well. You and your insight locally and national will be missed.
Thank you â Ian
May 24, 2024
Thank you Sir John for all you’ve done for the country and for Wokingham, or tried to do in the face of the adversity caused by LibDem Councillors. We’ve live here as long as you’ve served as an MP, with no regrets at all for having supported you throughout. Best wishes in whatever the next chapter brings.
May 24, 2024
A tragedy but no surprise, I had you moving on months ago. Seat under threat, party in opposition and in any event unless it re aligns, as is happening in Europe, politically has moved well away from you.
They say all political careers end in failure. You have preempted that. I hope a sane voice in the Lords is part of your coming years.
Thank you and best wishes for the future.
May 24, 2024
Well done for the past and we don’t blame you for doing this. It must have taken the patience of a saint to bear with this coterie for so long. Really since 2010 many couldn’t and wouldn’t have lived with the direction of travel but would’ve jumped off the bus. Perhaps you’ll still be back for the next one?
May 24, 2024
It is sad for Parliament and for the Conservative Party that Sir John Redwood won’t be standing for re-election for Parliament. However it is understandable because (as I observed when I was a Councillor and I was fortunate in being part of the controlling Party on the Council) that opposition representatives have all the constituency work that members of the governing party have but practically no prospect of influencing government policy (which to his huge credit John Redwood has been trying very hard to do).
May 24, 2024
Good luck for your future aims.
I am pleased you will continue with this. I do hope that away from parilmentary party requirements we will read more open free opinions.
May 24, 2024
I wish you well on the projects you have in mind , thank you for your efforts over these years , but to be selfish for a moment, I have to say it is a bit of a disaster for us conservative minded people who supported Mrs Thatcher and are appalled at the Blairite One Nation Tories who have such a dominant hold on the party , there are few enough conservatives in the Conservative party as it is without losing such an important voice.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your service to our national politics. You will be greatly missed.
I’m delighted that you are continuing with your diary.
May 24, 2024
Good luck Sir.
You are one of the good guys.
May 24, 2024
If only Boris Johnson had appointed Sir John as Chancellor from the moment he entered No 10, thereby (1) avoiding what was set in hand via the Javid resignation, and (2) having a sensible voice in Cabinet to balance it against the hardcore lockdown fanatics.
May 24, 2024
Glad to see that you are opening a new chapter Sir John
I cannot wait to see your forthcoming analysis and commentary, especially in this Diary
May 24, 2024
After the initial shock at this bombshell Iâm happy for you to move on & have space to explore your other interests, especially as your party doesnât listen to you as it should. I canât help wondering whether the country missed an historic opportunity when Truss foolishly overlooked you for the role of Chancellor.
Iâve been reading here daily for over a decade and am so grateful for your engagement with us. My father was very political and since he passed this blog has filled a void for political debate in my life and Iâm genuinely grateful to you for that and hope I can thank you in person at a future event (I have been to events with you before and always get the impression you are too busy to talk so maybe at the next one it may be easier without your duties as an MP taking up so much time).
Anyway, thanks & Go Well.
May 24, 2024
Sorry to hear it and thank you for your service.
I think the Tory party is done for. Mass immigration has done it. People are aghast.
May 25, 2024
Paula
Certainly one of the very big reasons, no question.
May 25, 2024
People are so aghast they are going to vote in a government that is really serious about immigration.
May 24, 2024
Its been an honour and pleasure reading this diary since the 2016 referendum, the only voice of reason & balance âŠYouâll be a great loss to parliament & to the people, I wish you well
May 24, 2024
Sir John, am not a constituent, but am sure your professional support will be greatly missed by all.
It’s not my place to thank you, but am happy we will still be able to hear your words of wisdom.
Wishing you all the very best in your future endeavours.
May 24, 2024
God bless you Sir J for keeping the faith all these years, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
May 24, 2024
Thanks for fighting the good fight, John.
May 24, 2024
You will be missed John but it must have been very lonely being a true Conservative in the not a Conservative Party. What a pity those far less experienced in your party given Ministerial jobs didnât draw on your vast experience and views which resonate with so many of us. What a different state the country and party would be in now if they had. You have been a superb MP and Iâm sure your constituents will miss you as will we. Thank you for being a lone voice in speaking up for England and the rotten deal it gets, please continue.
Wishing you well in all you do John and good luck for the future.
May 24, 2024
Sad news.
I suppose yet another Lib Dem, championed by Conservative Head Office, will be the new Tory candidate for Wokingham.
May 24, 2024
Spot on. I see Lord Frost, one of those true Conservative politicians, a rare breed nowadadays, has been barred from standing as an MP because he spoke up against Sunakâs diabolical policies.
May 24, 2024
This is indeed very bad news for both the Conservative Party and the country.
May 24, 2024
Sorry to hear that – the country needs more true Conservatives not less. You will be missed.
May 24, 2024
I read of your decision with sadness in a news feed today so I came here to thank you for all your efforts over the years to try to have sensible policies enacted by government.
What I saw, from reading this site at times over those years, was that your talents were not used to anywhere near a sensible level by any of those in power, who were often more style than substance – and often politically at odds with your views (and mine) even though ostensibly in the same party.
It became obvious that you would never be a Cabinet minister again when this blog asked questions of the government – and I guess you saw that for yourself before any readers here did. A terrible waste.
I hope you will find a way to contribute to the national direction in your new life. Nigel Farage has come to realise that being in parliament is perhaps not the best way to influence public life. I hope you will find a way to influence policy from outside Parliament. The best of British to you in whatever you decide to do next and thank you for your service.
May 24, 2024
I am not a constituent of yours BUT I wish I had been.
To me you are what a Conservative and Unionist party MP should be.
I have enjoyed reading your diary every day for several years and, as might be expected, I have disagreed with you on a few occasions but “you cannot please all the people all of the time”.
I wish you well in whatever you plan to do post the election.
Thank you.
May 24, 2024
+many
May 24, 2024
+1
May 24, 2024
Parliament will be lessened by your departure from the centre of Government but I am sure everyone wishes you well in your new endeavours. No doubt you will continue to be consulted for your wise considered views so not completely ‘out of the fray’
May 24, 2024
When John took office for Wokingham in June 1987:
– The formidable Mrs Thatcher was PM.
– Ronald Regan was the U. S president.
– We were a member of the EEC (not the dreaded EU it would later morph into).
– UK population was 56.8 Million and GDP was ÂŁ745 Billion.
– Unemployment was just under three million for the first time since 1981.
– Income tax was 25p in the pound.
– A pint of beer was 92p (on average).
– 20 cigarettes were ÂŁ1.43 (on average) .
– A gallon of fuel was around ÂŁ1.70 (on average).
– Reading Festival was ÂŁ12.50 for a day ticket.
– The average gross weekly wage was ÂŁ182 (Manual) and ÂŁ262 (Non manual). (Source: ONS)
– The average house price was ÂŁ37.5K (source: Land Registry).
– Ford had launched the Ford Sierra range.
– The Channel Tunnel was given the green light and the driverless Docklands Light Railway began operating.
– Work startee on extending the M40 from Oxford to Birmingham.
– The average business computer was running on i386 chips, with speeds in Megahertz and RAM was in the Kilobytes (Far from the Gigabytes we have today).
– Whitney Houston was number one in the Top 40 charts with ‘I wanna dance with somebody’.
– ‘The Untouchables’ was the number one movie at the UK box office.
– Timothy Dalton was James Bond.
– Coronation Street was still pulling in audiences in excess of 13 Million.
– The workings of Government was being mocked in ‘Yes, Prime Minister’. Rik Mayall was Alan B’stard in ‘The New Statesman’.
How the world (and UK) has changed since then, and not necessarily for the better!
Sadly for Wokingham, I feel it will now fall to the utterly useless Lib Dems. Who spend much of their time cricisingnthe the the Conservatives, whilst doing nothing constructive or notable themselves in Wokingham.
May 24, 2024
When John Redwood followed William van Straubenzee to serve Wokingham we wondered how that might pan out.
We would never have dreamed that 37 years later he would be around but would withdraw.
Back in 1987 population was 210,000 now in 2023 it is 350,000 an indication of the changes, not many for the better, that have come about to spoil ‘the green and pleaseant land’.
May 24, 2024
pleasant…
May 24, 2024
The goons at the Bank of England will be relieved that your awkward questions in the HoC will cease. Perhaps Labour will do something about the huge losses when they are looking for money to pay for their impossible policies.
May 25, 2024
It could be that huge BOE losses are preferable to Labour spending said money. They could do huge damage. Not least Militarily. Hope everyone is buckled up for a very bumpy financial ride – letâs hope itâs just financial.
May 24, 2024
Best decision for you, good luck and a long life. When I was ask to join the Great Queen Street lodge I told them no.
May 24, 2024
As one of your Constituents that is sad news to hear, you will certainly be missed, few politicians have the knowledge and grip on financial and economic matters that you have, or indeed answer correspondence as rapidly as you have over the years.
If you had stood you would have had my vote again, as you supported the sort of Conservative values in which I believe, unfortunately the Conservative Party has left you (as well as many of its traditional supporters), so in some way I am not surprised, it has been rather obvious in your postings over the last 12 months that you have been immensely frustrated by present Government policies and decisions.
Your decision not to stand has now made my decision very much easier, I will now not be voting for any of the major political Party’s, as I feel none of them represent my views, or are fit for purpose.
Many thanks for your service over the years Sir John, I wish you well in whatever you decide to do next, and hope that your knowledge and opinions will get the outlet that they deserve.
May 24, 2024
Thank you Sir John Redwood for your lifelong sterling work for our dear country. You have more than lived up to your knighthood and surname, if I may be as bold to say, towering above lesser souls like a beacon of hope and light in many gloomy times.
So sad to hear you are stepping down but not out of the debate but it is understandable given the sad times and challenges we now face. By sheer coincidence, yesterday I mentioned you have been operating like intelligent and smart opposition to assist those in power and you will continue with your excellent contributions to the national debate. Marvellous indeed and many many thanks indeed.
May 24, 2024
It will be sad to see you, Sir John, as no longer an MP and certainly a loss to Parliament and to the residents of Wokingham. I wish you all the best in your forthcoming endeavours and look forward to your future âcontributions to the debates about public policy.â
I thank you for all the hard work you have put into running your website and for your tolerance for allowing us all to make our comments.
May 24, 2024
Such a sad day! A shock!
I have learnt so much, you have been an important part of my political education, since our early day’s!
It will be a great loss to Westminster, I wonder how the why will suffer? Such a strong character, the challenge to the prevailing thinking, and clarity of thought you brought, it’s a major loss!
Lets hope you get a platform, on a number of channels, I will be looking out for you!
The need for challenge, and you’re experience, is ever greater!
I survey the political landscape, and wonder which way the wind is blowing?
We have the Labour Party about to take office, a Left-wing, fluffy, ‘Progressive (going no where)’ Party! The damage will be immense!
We have a One Nation, Left-wing, Tory party? Set on alignment to the EU, and Small C, localism? With no sense of the Individuals, Vs the State, with no support for Wealth Generation of the individuals, of the family’s, and accepts Devolution, a means to break-up the UK! And, absolutely, no support for the Self Employed, no Reforms of IR35/Tax structure, No Supply-side or Deregulation reforms?
And, then we have a Right of Centre, Free Market based, political force, but with no coherent structure, no Political Party!
It’s in this environment, that makes ‘Free Marketeers’ aimless!
Reform_UK seem to be a one policy (Migration) Party, with some good spokes People, but No Farage?
So, for you to leave, worries so many people!
Liz Truss, and others, just do not have the clarity or strength of argument, for them to be representative of a Free Market group!
You are the Poster Boy, for so many People!
Will you be willing to maintain this position, and a supporter of a ‘Free Market’ political force, though the channels open to you?
Anyway!
Many thanks for all you’re hard-work!
Many thanks for tolerating may views, I always wanted to make an Open Free Market, well regulated and free, but to make it work for everyone (Wealth Generation), and to make it work in the British Industrial Interest! Home grown energy supply and a Cheap Energy strategy, for industry!
I wish you all the best, and hope you have good fortune in you’re endeavours!
Best Regards, to you and your family,
RDM!
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your past service Sir John.
Thank you also for saving me the tough decision of voting for you as the best candidate or Reform as the best policies!
May 24, 2024
Dear Sir John
I have to say I am not surprised by your decision, in fact, I expected it.
If I were you ( and I am exactly the same age ), I would have reached the same conclusion.
Your Dairy is essential reading for many of us and the thought of it not continuing would leave a considerable void.
I am therefore pleased that it will continue, albeit with some changes. Perhaps you will put a word limit on posts and maybe restrict contributions to one or at most two per day. LL please note !
I do hope that you are appointed to the House of Peers as of all the retiring Conservative MPs, your continuing contribution to politics would be the most valuable.
Whatever you do, I wish you a long and happy life. ( I deliberately did not say retirement ! )
Best Regards
Chris Sheldrake
Ferndown Dorset.
May 24, 2024
As others have said, your decision has come as a shock! I have been a reader since 2015, and it has been very encouraging to read a voice for conservative values and standards during those years. I wish you every happiness and success in your retirement, and thank you for the years of hard work writing a daily blog.
If only our PMs and Chancellors had read and acted on your wise advice, the UK would be a better country today.
Perhaps one project could be to write a book called “Conservative Values “, hoping it is a template for a future, proper conservative leader.
May 24, 2024
So sorry to hear this news this morning, you have been a very good MP for Wokingham and will be sorely missed. I hope whoever replaces you has your fire as we will surely need it in the coming months. I just hope whoever it is can take on the opposition and win. This has been my home for 50 years and what with the change to the council and now our MP it is certainly not the same place. Good luck in your future endeavours.
May 24, 2024
Such a pity that you are going.
When you were in cabinet you were instrumental in showing us how to run things properly.
That blueprint can never be erased and is a lesson for future politicans.
Hopefully you will now have more time for getting on the media. You are a good communicator and I hope you use that skill to good efect.
May 24, 2024
That you entered public life has clearly materially advantaged our country and it is to be hoped your vast contribution will continue. Thanks is due to you from us all. Very best wishes for new successes from your future endeavours.
(I am glad this diary will continue. I do of course remain poised ready to strike blows at the heart of government upon notice from you that you would like letters issued.)
May 24, 2024
A wise decision. The role of opposition candidate in waiting would be unsuitable for someone of JR’s talents.
I look forward to continue reading this blog, unconstrained by a potential invitation to the Whips’ office.
May 26, 2024
A wise decision indeed. As theyâve been able to lead it by the nose on many occasions, the media seems to hold more power and influence than the elected government these days. Iâve suspected for some time that youâve been honing your journalistic skills in preparation for the present political environment!
Your daily posts as an MP have been reassuring flares of common sense, lighting up the gloom of wide scale sloppy thinking, and I have been very grateful for them.
Also looking forward eagerly to the texts of your next chapter – will you also be providing popcorn?
May 24, 2024
That is a great loss to country. Youâve been an ornament to the HoC for many years. But I hope you continue one way or another to contribute to public life and I shall be looking out for it!
May 24, 2024
Sunak the hijacker of the obvious
The sunâs up today âŠthat was my plan, my plan is working, and it will be up even higher tomorrow âŠafter the election only I can ensure that the sun will comes up everyday
May 24, 2024
A big loss to the Commons but I hope you’ll continue to be a voice of sanity.
I hope we may, in due course, get your diagnosis of what went wrong with the Conservative Party. So many easy wins left unclaimed and the party seemed to have been rolled by the Civil Service and the culture Marxism that is so prevalent. So many people I know are furious at the party that has not been willing to pursue market oriented and personal liberty policies.
May 24, 2024
Thank you, Sir John, for all you have done over many years: I look forward to seeing what part you play in the debate over the next few years.
The only other thing I can say about your exit from the ballot paper, is that it alleviates the pressure from torn allegiances.
Best wishes!
May 24, 2024
Sir John , there is no doubt that you will be sorely missed in more ways than one . I have always considered you to be the most intelligent MP in the Conservative benches and your talent will be sorely missed . Any observer knows that you should have been Chancellor where your knowledge and experience would have been best employed . Margaret Thatcher did recognise and use your capability – a pity she was not followed by someone of the same judgement . On another ( Oxford ) note you were always respected in your deliveries – many of which I was able to attend . Now – in my 97th year my days are limited but I will still follow you as long as I can .
May 24, 2024
Dear Sir John, thank you for your hard work, integrity and forbearance in the service of this beloved nation of ours. In the wise words of Solomon, ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
May 24, 2024
Not actually what I posted.
Your editing team are having a laugh.
May 24, 2024
I do wish you all the best, and am glad your excellent blog is to continue.
May 24, 2024
How about standing in Maidenhead?
Representing the Free Market Conservative Party ?
May 24, 2024
From Guido
‘GB Newsâ Chris Hope reports that bulldog Brexiteer Lord David Frost was told yesterday that he wonât be allowed to stand for any of the 93 still-vacant seats available. According to rules since 2014 peers can resign from the Lords to stand for the Commons. Frost has consistently signalled that this was his aim. What is CCHQ afraid of?’
From a Sunak CCHQ point of view having a Conservative in the Party upsets the Liberal Democrat and Socialist direction of this once major UK Party. On that basis are we lead to believe Wokingham will become Liberal Democrats or Liberal Democrat? which version? I doubt given recent form of CCHQ the local people will not get to choose who is best to serve them and the Country
May 24, 2024
‘Lord David Frost was told yesterday that he won’t be allowed to stand for any of the 93 still-vacant seats available’
With SirJ leaving the commons and Lord Frost not allowed to enter the commons …whats tory to vote for !
May 24, 2024
Glen
The leftish/Socialist direction of the Conservative Party is now more than obvious, shame is that when they lose and Sunak goes, who’ll be left to lead/follow the traditional Conservative line.
Looks like they may be buried for a generation !
May 25, 2024
What we do know about all of these new candidates is that they are hand picked by Central Office and therefore we donât want any of them.
May 24, 2024
John I wish you the best of luck hosting your own show on GB News. It will provide a forum for another sensible voice and thereby strengthen that TV channel.
May 24, 2024
Thanks for your service and getting me answers on subjects even i did not like
Rod Needs
May 24, 2024
Thank you Sir John you are always a proper Conservative, Parliamentarian and Gentleman. Vanishingly few of any of these in HoC these days; so all the very best whatever you get up to in future just hope you can make waves from time to time.
May 24, 2024
I’m very sorry that you are not standing for parliament again. You were one of only a handful of Tories who were genuinely patriotic and sensible. Without you, the Tory party will go from bad to completely appalling.
I would like you to stand for REFORM UK, the party whose policies are clearly much better aligned to yours.
Thank you for all you have done and I hope you enjoy a long and fulfilling retirement.
Reply I am not retiring!
May 24, 2024
The Telegraph is reporting that Lord Frost has been banned from standing as a Conservative Party candidate in the election.
If there is any doubt that the One Nation group are in control of party HQ, this is it.
Lord Frost would be an excellent candidate but probably too good a Brexiteer for those in charge to have in the Commons.
May 24, 2024
Well theyâve got about 80 seats with no candidate apparently.
And has the decision to not let him stand actually been taken?
Can they stop him because he is a Lord?
May 24, 2024
Half a day is a long time in politics. If there is one conservative act that confirms their unsuitability for re-election, it is the refusal of a seat for Lord Frost. The present consocialist cabal do not want any true Conservative, loyal to the concept of a sovereign United Kingdom, acting as a thistle in their midst.
My judgement is that Conservatives at large will only elect real Conservatives, based on past performance. That means an opposition of 50 to 100, leaving Labour to take a wrecking ball to everything. They cannot help themselves, it is in their genes. Prepare for a bumpy ride in the clear air politics of socialism.
May 24, 2024
agricola : âThat means an opposition of 50 to 100, leaving Labour to take a wrecking ball to everything.â
Unfortunately I donât see the remaining (excuse the pun) 50 -100 Conservative MPs wishing to oppose Labour policies, particularly on the big issues of immigration and Net Zero. Thatâs why, as we have seen for the single Green (Red, really) MP, a single strongly opposing MP can be more effective. It means a voice for an alternative view can be aired on the BBC very occasionally if a party has at least one MP.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your immense contribution to Parliament over many years. You grasped the torch of real Conservatism in its heyday under Margaret Thatcher which did so much to rescue the nation from its downward post War spiral and reset the economy on a sound footing – at least until adherence to Maastricht intervened. You have consistently applied those principles in warning about the missteps of governments ever since, and encouraging them to pursue wiser paths. At the same time, you continued to listen to your constituents, contributors to your blog and others you encountered to ensure that you were well informed across a broad spectrum of policy areas, modifying and improving your positions from all you willingly learned.
At the same time your understanding that politics is the art of the possible (something that I feel some contributors here underestimate), necessitating an element of Realpolitik to achieve shift in government or party positions helped you to actually score changes that others would have failed to achieve through being too dogmatic.
I can appreciate that what is likely to be a landslide Labour Parliament despite perhaps the lowest turnout at a General Election since the days of Rotten Boroughs is unlikely to provide the best forum for your contributions, leaving aside whether your considerable personal constituency vote (itself a great testament to your contribution) that made Wokingham one of the very safest seats in the country would eclipse the seat being at risk under new boundaries at a time when so many view the current government with extreme disapproval.
I look forward to you securing a more prominent media profile, untrammelled by the CCHQ rota and the BBC habit of cancelling you every time they decide they don’t want to broadcast your views. Perhaps your plans include heading up some other body with a public profile that would also afford an opportunity to educate future generations. We are going to need people who understand how to pick up the pieces that the next government will leave behind.
May I wish you the very best for the future.
May 24, 2024
thank you Sir John for your Service and commitment to Politics but most of all to this country and its citizens, I only wish we had a Parliament full of dedicated M.P.’s like yourself.
May 24, 2024
A sad day for Britain and a very bad day for the Conservative party, but an understandable decision. I hope your future plans prosper.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for your informed comment and I look forward to your views on the forthcoming Labour debacle.
May 24, 2024
Thanks John, and good luck with your future plans.
May 24, 2024
Sir J, I’m not at all surprised by your dicision.
I’ll certainly continue visiting your diary.
All the very best with your future plans.
Radar
May 24, 2024
Thank you for all your work as an mp for Wokingham and as a Spartan over the decades.Also for the setting up of this Diary. Parliament will be diminished without you. You would have been a brilliant Chancellor. So many nice comments on here and at the DT – I hope you take pleasure from them. Best wishes for all your endeavours ahead. You will be missed.
May 24, 2024
Many thanks for all your hard work John and best wishes for the future. You will be missed.
May 24, 2024
The Lib Dems may be gloating at JR standing down, however their record for Wokingham so far has been utterly appalling. Rates up, parking charges up, bin collections being cut and blaming everyone else but themselves for Wokingham BC finances. The Elm Field and town centre development was green lit under the previous Conservative administration, so they can’t claim credit for that.
If they were as great as they like to make out, then why did they lose Wokingham to “no overall control” in the recent local elections?
A possible Lib Dem MP for Wokingham will be no better.
A shame JR does not stand for Reform, a party that is more suited to hid beliefs and ideals. Even former Tory grandee -Anne Widdecombe – saw the light a few years back and jumped ship.
May 24, 2024
Thank you for all you have done for this country in your time as an MP and Minister.
May 24, 2024
Donât blame you. This election should finally see the âConservativesâ deservedly wiped out and replaced by something actually Conservative.
May 24, 2024
Sterling service to England over many years. I for one would like to thank you for everything you have done to put forward sensible Conservative policies forward and allow debate and comment as our gracious host whilst having so much to do as an MP.
Looking forward to hearing your plans for the future which no doubt will continue to be wide ranging and interesting (after a long pleasant holiday of course!)
Thank you again Sir John.
May 24, 2024
Hmmm. Doesnât give the next candidate much if a chance to make an impression.
May 24, 2024
We see Miguel Gove king rat himself is getting out wow! and after all of the promises – we thought that at the very least he would remain to steer us to the sunlit uplands wow! so who is going to lead us now?
May 25, 2024
Starmer. And he is terrified. Looks like a man in shock. He might announce heâs standing down next đđ€Ł
May 24, 2024
If, as expected Starmer wins the election, we will need to protect the integrity of England.
There can be little doubt that the balkanisation of our ancient country would suit Labour very well.
The last thing we want is a whole lot of English regional assemblies based on the Holyrood and Senedd model !
We just need English Parliamentarians to sit as the Parliament of England in the Commons Chamber which will be the majority of its time. No extra pay or expenses and no grand half Billion pound vanity buildings will be required.
May 24, 2024
Respect :đ„Č
May 24, 2024
You will be greatly missed from Parliament, Sir John, something one really cannot say about many of the others who have stood down . At any important debate when tuning into parliament tv, I would always scan the timed list of speakers to find your own contribution. How disappointing that your calmly and unswervingly incisive perspective on economic, political and national realities was so rarely echoed by your colleagues.
However, your decision is doubtless a sensible one. The next few years will be a political disaster, and the Conservative Party shows no signs of having learnt a salutary lesson from its current disgrace. I expect CCHQ will use the opportunity to enter candidates who are globalist statists and innate rejoiners.
I hope the ‘other things you want to do’ will prove entertaining and stimulating, as you deserve after devoting so many years to public life and to your constituency. The country still needs your input, one way or another.
May 24, 2024
Respect & thanks for your service for all the years to the people of wokingham
May 24, 2024
Dear John
I am saddened by the news today you are standing down at the forthcoming election. The Conservative Party and Parliament will be losing a brilliant individual and one of the best minds they ever had.
In my opinion, it is such a shame what has happened to the Conservative Party (ie the leadership having morphed into New Labour which has now made the party totally unelectable) and worse still the damage that mindless transition has done to the country.
I just wish to thank you for always being a Conservative inspiration and to wish you the very best for the next chapter. Kind regards, Paul Freedman
May 25, 2024
Thank you Sir John,
The Commons and your party will be poorer without you.
I can still remember the wagonloads of muck that the Nasty Party establishment threw at you when you dared to challenge the John Major disaster. More recently , they made it clear to Andrea Leadsom that she would suffer the same fate if she did not stand down so that they could crown Mrs May.
I cannot help wondering if the country and your party might not be in a much better position if, say, Mrs Leadsom had been a team-leading PM with you as the Chancellor .
As one Telegraph reader put it: ” John Redwood is an outstanding example of a perceptive, incisive intelligence consigned to the margins of public life in favour of the routine procession of the dull and mediocre”.
Will any of the new intake have the energy, respect and intellectual confidence to conduct a dialect with ordinary voters every day as you have done?
Thank you again.
May 25, 2024
Thank you for all youâve done and more importantly argued for! I wasnât keen on you when you were in charge of Wales but since Devolution my opinion has vastly changed. My thoughts on the leadership of Wales are unprintable. Your comments on here for change on many areas in the Uk are brilliant and you will be sorely missed by many. You would have made the best Chancellor ever. Enjoy your next adventures. And if you were to be elevated to the other House, congratulations. I look forward to future articles.
May 25, 2024
A day late, but I want to thank you for giving ordinary members of the public the chance to follow your efforts to bring some sense into government, with your questions to ministers. They have revealed a great deal about what’s going wrong in Britain: the mixture of arrogance and incompetence shown all too clearly by those running the country day-to-day. If for nothing else, your diary has been invaluable.
I hope you have also found it useful as a way of sounding out public opinion, especially of those who – like myself – are minded to vote for you and your party, but have serious concerns about policy directions. Many, many thanks for your tireless persistence both as an MP and also as an early-morning moderator of comments on this site. It is good that you want to know ordinary people’s views. If only there were more in Westminster that did.
May 25, 2024
Musing on motivations and wondering if this decision was precipitated by the chances of winning both locally and nationally. But then I realised that as a backbench MP in this Conservative party you would have as much “power” and influence in opposition as you would have in government.
I have not seen the polls? Were you forecast to lose your seat, if so I am not surprised that the dirge of campaigning does not appeal.
Thank you for your efforts over your period as an MP, and thank you for this forum. Your insight and abilities deserve far more recognition than they get. I hope your future is bright.
Reply I thought I could win in Wokingham based on local election results and the disastrous Lib Dem Council. I will share more of my thinking in the weeks ahead as events unfold.
May 25, 2024
I greatly enjoy reading your blogs and am glad to hear you will be continuing to share your thoughts on public debate.
Good luck with your next venture.
May 25, 2024
A hard decision. It must be quite a wrench but at present it is fighting a losing battle, not that you would not have won your seat, however it is very difficult not to continue the things you get used to. There is so much to do and enjoy and as the years pass it becomes harder to participate in those things we all imagined doing if we had time But aren’t you entitled to sit in the Lords.?
May 25, 2024
John,
Is it true; CCHQ is de-selecting all Brexiteers, Free Marketeers, Anti-Net-Zero, populists candidate’s, All Candidates on the Right in the Conservative Party? They want to build a ‘Center Right’, One Nation Tory Party?
How can a Free Market, with a working Price Mechanism, and all the Freedom that go with it, how can they be implemented with a Structured/EU Aligned (Customs Union), and small C conservative, Local-ism? The One Nation Tory’s guiding principles?
They are not compatible, and they know it?
Is this the conflict at the heart of the Conservative Party, and if so, they are intent on moving the Party to the center!
So, People on the Right, are not being allowed to stay in the Conservative Party?
Time to move?
Are you willing to enlighten us?
BR
RDM
Reply. A lot of new candidates are about to be chosen so let us see who. I will write about the Conservative party as soon as we see the election results. Plenty to tell you then
June 2, 2024
Just got back from holiday where I took a rest from social media. Sorry you are not standing again but understand your decision after your long and faithful representation for constituents and country. Just sorry you have not had one of the top jobs of late which you certainly deserved. Hope you do not feel too let down. Glad you are going to keep the blog going as I do enjoy reading your views and contributions.