Alok Sharma has become the latest Conservative MP to announce he will step down at the next general election. The former Cop26 president, who has represented Reading West since 2010, said it had “not been an easy decision” and described being an MP as the “honour of [my] life”. Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: “I have this evening informed my local Conservative Association that I have decided not to stand at the next general election and therefore do not seek to be adopted as the Conservative candidate for the revised seat of Reading West & Mid Berkshire. This has not been an easy decision for me. It has been the honour of my life to serve as the MP for a constituency in the town where I grew up and a privilege to serve in government and represent the UK on the international stage.” More than 40 Conservative MPs have already announced they will step down at the next election – the most for a ruling party since the exodus of 100 Labour MPs before the 2010 election, which followed the expenses scandal and 13 years in government. A clear-out is anticipated as party sources cite the experience of Boris Johnson’s premiership, the increasing stresses of the job and a continuing slump in the polls as reasons for a bumper crop of departures. Sharma said: “My grateful thanks to all the constituents, local organisations, charities and businesses I have had the pleasure of working with, since being selected as the parliamentary candidate in 2006, as we have campaigned together on a whole range of issues to make our local area a better place to live and work.” Sharma served as business secretary, as well as a stint as international development secretary, after working his way up the ranks as a junior minister for employment and housing. Other high-profile Tory MPs who have said they will not stand at the next general election include the former defence secretary Ben Wallace, the former foreign secretary Dominic Raab and the former health secretary Matt Hancock.