Ancram steps down
By politics.co.uk staff
Former Tory party chairman Michael Ancram is stepping down from parliament at the next election.
Mr Ancram said the decision was taken for medical reasons.
In a letter to his constituency party the Devizes MP said he had been on heart medication for six years.
The choice to step down was “forced upon me by considerations of health”.
Senior Conservatives paid tribute to the former chairman, with shadow foreign secretary William Hague praising his work in Northern Ireland.
