Dominic Raab has become the latest Tory MP to announce that they are standing down at the next election.
The former cabinet minister last month resigned as deputy prime minister and justice secretary after an inquiry found he acted in an intimidating and aggressive way with officials in behaviour that could have amounted to bullying.
He later signalled to journalists he was the victim of “activist civil servants” who oppose reforms such as Brexit, and the “tyranny of subjective hurt feelings”.
On Monday, the Telegraph reported Raab is quitting because he has been “increasingly concerned over the last few years about the pressure the job has placed on my young family”.
Raab holds a slim 2,743-vote majority in his Esher and Walton constituency in Surrey, which is a top target seat for the Liberal Democrats at the next election.
There is an apparent exodus of Conservative MPs, with Matt Hancock, Sajid Javid and Nadine Dorries all stepping down when the nation goes to the polls.
In a letter to the chairman of his local Conservative Association, seen by the Telegraph, Raab reportedly cited concerns about the pressure on his family as being behind his decision.
“I have become increasingly concerned over the last few years about the pressure the job has placed on my young family,” he wrote in the letter dated May 19, according to the newspaper.
“I will continue to carry out all my responsibilities to my constituents, and provide every support in campaigning, so that we win here next year – which I am confident we can do under this prime minister’s leadership.”