Former prime minister Theresa May to stand down as MP at next general election
Former prime minister Theresa May has announced she will stand down as an MP at the next general election.
In an exclusive statement to her local paper, Mrs May said she had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency.
Theresa May has represented Maidenhead for nearly three decades. Pic: PA
The 67-year-old also pledged her support to Rishi Sunak’s government and said she believed the Conservatives could win the next election.
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Elected seven times, Mrs May had been the Conservative MP for the Berkshire seat since 1997.
She served as prime minister from 2016 to 2019, having previously held the position of home secretary since 2010.
Mrs May entered Downing Street after David Cameron resigned after the country voted to leave the European Union – something he campaigned against.
However, the fateful choice of the “new Iron Lady” to call a snap election and the Brexit chaos that followed saw her forced out of the job three years later.
Mrs May’s decision to leave Westminster adds to an exodus that has seen more than 60 Tory MPs say they will not fight their seats at the next election – the highest total since 1997.
High profile MPs who have said they will quit include former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Read more:
When could the next general election be?
In a statement to the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Conservative politician, a vicar’s daughter known for her fashionable footwear, said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to serve everyone in the Maidenhead constituency as the Member of Parliament for the last 27 years.
“Being an MP is about service to one’s constituents and I have always done my best to ensure that I respond to the needs of local people and the local area.
“Since stepping down as prime minister I have enjoyed being a backbencher again and having more time to work for my constituents and champion causes close to my heart including most recently launching a Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.
“These causes have been taking an increasing amount of my time.
“Because of this, after much careful thought and consideration, I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve.
“I have therefore taken the difficult decision to stand down at the next general election.”
The 2017 party conference in Manchester ended in humiliation
Pic: Reuters
She added: “I will continue to work hard for all my constituents until the general election.
“As I pass the baton on I will be working with my successor to secure a Conservative victory in Maidenhead. I remain committed to supporting Rishi Sunak and the government and believe that the Conservatives can win the election.
“I would like to thank all those who chose me to represent them as their member of parliament.
“I have always said there is no greater privilege than being an MP; I have served as home secretary and prime minister but none of that would have been possible without the people of Maidenhead and the constituency which I have been proud to call my home.”
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Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said the number of Tories standing down showed there was “no confidence” in Mr Sunak and the Conservatives electoral prospects.
But Treasury minister Gareth Davies denied this was the case, telling Sky News he was “personally sad” to see Mrs May stand down “after a pretty good innings”, but that it was “completely reasonable” for people to decide to leave parliament ahead of an election.
He said: “Each one has made their own decision for personal reasons and I respect every single person’s decision to do so.”
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Mrs May arrived in Downing Street in 2016, after an uncontested leadership election, faced with the task of bringing together party and country after the traumas of the EU referendum.
But her decision to call an early election in the hope of securing the comfortable majority she needed to implement her Brexit plans ended in disaster.
A poorly received manifesto and hastily withdrawn social care policy, which saw her insist “nothing has changed”, coupled with a robotic campaigning style, saw her deprived her of her slim majority in the Commons and dependent on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
From then on she was engaged in a day-by-day struggle to keep her plans on course and maintain the fragile unity of her government.
That year’s conference in Manchester ended in humiliation as she was handed a P45 by a comedian on stage, lost her voice to a persistent cough and ended her speech with letters falling off the backdrop behind her.
After repeated failed attempts to get her Brexit plans through and with the party in open mutiny, her fate was sealed.
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2019: Theresa May resigns
Nicknamed the Maybot, for rarely revealing her emotions, Mrs May fought back tears as she announced her departure from Number 10 in Ma 2019.
With her voice cracking, she said at the time: “I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold – the second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.
“I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.”
Unlike many other former prime minister’s, Mrs May remained parliament and active on the backbench, not afraid to criticise the government.
Taiwanese lawmaker Ko Ju-Chun has called on the government to consider adding Bitcoin to its national reserves, suggesting it could serve as a hedge against global economic uncertainty.
Ko, a legislator at-large in Taiwan’s legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, took to X on Friday to report that he had advocated Bitcoin (BTC) investment by the Taiwanese government at the National Conference on May 9.
In his remarks, Ko cited Bitcoin’s potential to become a hedge amid global economic risks and urged Taiwan to recognize the cryptocurrency alongside gold and foreign exchange reserves to boost its financial resilience.
Ko’s announcement came shortly after the legislator held talks with Samson Mow, who advocates for Bitcoin adoption by states like El Salvador at his BTC tech firm Jan3.
Taiwan is an export-oriented economy
Ko highlighted that Taiwan is an export-driven economy that has experienced significant fluctuations in its national currency, the New Taiwan dollar, amid global inflation and intensifying geopolitical risks.
“We currently have a gold reserve of 423 metric tons, and our foreign exchange reserves amount to $577 billion, including investments in US Treasury bonds,” the lawmaker stated.
In a scenario of more intense currency volatility or potential regional conflicts, Taiwan may “very likely be unable to ensure the security and liquidity,” Ko continued, adding that Bitcoin could be a great addition to Taiwan’s reserves for several reasons.
“Bitcoin has been operating for over 15 years. It has a fixed total supply, is decentralized, and is resistant to censorship. Many countries are focusing on its hedging attributes. At the same time, in intense situations, it may not face the risk of embargo,” he said.
Bitcoin is not the only solution
Referring to many global initiatives considering Bitcoin adoption as a reserve asset, Ko stressed that he’s not advocating for Bitcoin as the “only solution” to rising economic challenges.
Instead, the legislator suggested adding a “small proportion of Bitcoin” into the diversified assets as tools for sovereign asset allocation and risk hedging, and backup capacity of Taiwan’s financial system.
Related: Trump tricked into pushing XRP for crypto reserve: Report
He previously suggested that Taiwan could allocate a maximum of 5% of its $50 billion reserve to Bitcoin in an X post on May 6.
“When exchange rate risk and regional uncertainty increase, it is time to introduce new tools to construct a more flexible financial strategy framework,” Ko said, adding:
“As former Dean Chen Chong said, Bitcoin is the gun of the digital era. It may also be the gold of the digital era, the silver of the digital era. Or it could be gunpowder. A wise nation will not let weapons be in others’ hands.”
The news comes as Taiwan is emerging as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction, with the Financial Supervisory Commission pushing institutional trials of crypto custody services in late 2024.
Mainland China continues to maintain its hostile stance on cryptocurrency after imposing a ban on multiple crypto activities, including mining, in 2021.
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German law enforcement seized 34 million euros ($38 million) in cryptocurrency from eXch, a cryptocurrency platform allegedly used to launder funds stolen after Bybit’s record-breaking $1.4 billion hack.
The seizure, announced on May 9 by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Frankfurt’s main prosecutor’s office, involved multiple crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Dash (DASH). The move marks the third-largest crypto confiscation in the BKA’s history.
The authorities also seized eXch’s German server infrastructure with over eight terabytes of data and shut down the platform, the announcement added.
eXch exchanged crypto without AML
In the statement, the BKA described eXch as a “swapping” service that allowed users to exchange various crypto assets without implementing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures.
The platform had operated since 2014 and reportedly facilitated about $1.9 billion in crypto transfers, some of which were believed to be of “criminal origin,” including assets laundered during the Bybit hack.
“Among other things, a portion of the $1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit crypto exchange, which was hacked on Feb. 21, 2025, is said to have been exchanged via eXch,” the authorities wrote.
Multisig, FixedFloat among laundering cases
According to a post by crypto sleuth ZachXBT, eXch was also involved in laundering millions of funds from other crypto thefts and exploits, including Multisig, FixedFloat and the $243 million Genesis creditor theft.
Those were in addition to “countless phishing drainer services over the past few years with refusal to block addresses and freeze orders,” ZachXBT said.
ZachXBT was among the first security analysts to report on eXch’s links to laundering $35 million of crypto assets stolen from Bybit soon after the hack was confirmed.
Related: Hacken CEO sees ‘no shift’ in crypto security as April hacks hit $357M
“Lazarus Group transferred 5K ETH from the Bybit Hack to a new address and began laundering funds via eXch (a centralized mixer) and bridging funds to Bitcoin via Chainflip,” ZachXBT wrote in a Telegram post on Feb. 22.
eXch announced termination of services by May 1
After initially denying involvement in laundering funds from the Bybit hack, eXch eventually announced it would cease operations by May 1 in a Bitcoin Talk post published in mid-April.
“Even though we have been able to operate despite some failed attempts to shut down our infrastructure […], we don’t see any point in operating in a hostile environment where we are the target of SIGINT [Signals Intelligence] simply because some people misinterpret our goals,” it wrote.
Addressing the seizure, senior public prosecutor Benjamin Krause stressed the importance of action against “quick and anonymous opportunities for money laundering for any amount.”
“Crypto swapping is an essential component of the underground economy, used to conceal incriminated funds from illegal activities such as hacking or trading in stolen payment card data, thus making them available to perpetrators,” he said.
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