Norwich North MP Chloe Smith has announced she will stand down at the next election. 

Ms Smith, who has represented the constituency since 2009, has not given a reason for her departure, but thanked her team for supporting her during "tough personal times". 

The MP has had a series of roles in government, most recently having served as work and pensions secretary. 

She served in government under four prime ministers - David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss - but was booted out in a reshuffle by Rishi Sunak. 

In a statement, Ms Smith said: “I have been honoured to be Norwich North’s MP. It’s a fantastic job for a fantastic place, and it’s a particular privilege to be able to represent Norwich and Norfolk where I come from.  

“I am grateful to the thousands of Norwich citizens who placed their trust in me so many times.  I would also like to thank my team of volunteers who work so hard alongside me to help the community, and who have been so supportive, including during tough personal times.  

“I hope I’ve been able to make a difference, locally and nationally.  In 2024, after fifteen years of service, it will be the right time to step back, for me and my young family.”  

The Conservative Party will now begin the process of selecting a replacement candidate. 

Candidates set to stand in Norwich North at the next election include Labour's Alice Macdonald and Ben Price for the Green Party. 

Responding to the news, Ms Macdonald said: "I wish Chloe and her family all the best for the future after her years as MP here."

Polling for much of the last year has shown the Conservatives making a heavy loss in Norwich North, which has been a marginal seat for many years. 

In October a survey of 10,000 people, commissioned by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and carried out by the pollster Opinium, suggested Ms Smith could have lost her seat by a big margin, with Labour predicted to get 47.3pc of the vote to 29.67pc for the Conservatives. 

From 1997 until 2009 the constituency was held by Labour’s Ian Gibson. The party came within just 600 votes of reclaiming the seat in 2017. 

Baroness Shephard of Northwold, who Ms Smith has described as her mentor, having been inspired by her as a teenager in South West Norfolk, said: “Chloe Smith has been an outstanding Member of Parliament for Norwich North since her election in 2009, when at only 27 she became the youngest member of the House of Commons.  

"Since then she has served as a minister in the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, as Minister for Disabled People, and finally as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.  

"She has worked tirelessly on behalf of her constituents in Norwich North, and in Norwich and Norfolk as a whole, while at the same time bringing up a young family with her husband and successfully fighting breast cancer.  

"She will be enormously missed by the many, many people she has helped in her time as a local MP, by her constituency members and her local colleagues. 

"Nationally, her quiet competent presence will also be greatly missed. We will all miss her support and loyal friendship.”   

Analysis  

All eyes will be on who the Conservatives decide to run in the Norwich North seat. 

The party is now faced with the choice of looking for a local name or parachuting in a national candidate to try to hold the seat and there will no doubt be nervous faces in Conservative Party HQ. 

A recent district council by-election in Thorpe St Andrew North West, a once true-blue area and part of the Norwich North constituency, saw a massive swing towards Labour. 

Chloe Smith was elected to the seat at a by-election in 2009 which saw a massive swing towards the Tories, and has been regarded as a strong signal the Tories were back on their way into government. 

Given the marginal nature of the seat and polling indicating Labour are on track to claim the constituency, the Tories may find their best bet is to get in a promising up and comer the chance to get some experience of running an election while not necessarily expecting a win. 

Similar tactics have been used in the past, with Liz Truss contesting Hemsworth in West Yorkshire – a safe Labour seat – in 2005, before being brought in to South West Norfolk.