Sir Edward Garnier is to stand down as MP in Harborough

Dan Martin, the Leicester Mercury's political correspondent, has just tweeted this:

Sir Edward Garnier CONFIRMS he will not seek reelection as Harborough MP

— Dan Martin (@Danjamesmartin) April 27, 2017

Why he linked to a tweet about Ainsley Harriott I do not know (unless it is a hint about the identity of the likely successor as Tory candidate).

I blogged about today's speculation over Sir Edward's future earlier.

Many Conservatives with less talent had longer front-bench careers, but perhaps he was limited by being interested only in the government law offices. It would have been hard to imagine Sir Edward as minister for fish.

His majority at the last election was a massive 19,632, which will attract every pushy young Tory in the country.

But we Lib Dems remember that in 2005 it was only 3892.