A CABINET Office minister will be stepping down at the general election to "make way for a younger candidate".
Francis Maude, MP for Horsham, has announced he is to stand down at the next election, 32 years after entering parliament.
Mr Maude held positions in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as well as David Cameron.
He won his seat in the 2010 general election, defeating the Liberal Democrats, with a majority of 11,460.
In a letter to the Horsham Conservative Association, he said: "I was first elected to the House of Commons in 1983 just before I was 30, and will be nearly 67 by the time of the election in 2020.
"However, 27 years is a long time to serve as a member of parliament, and I believe now is the right time to make way for a younger candidate to carry the Conservative flag in Horsham."
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