Mystery of Tory MP 'close to home' looking to step down

  • Author, David Cornock
  • Role, 大象传媒 Wales Parliamentary correspondent

As tweets go, it was on the cryptic side.

"More Conservative MPs looking to stand down but close to home this time" was the message in fewer than 140 characters from the Aberconwy Conservative MP Guto Bebb.

"Close to home?" Mr Bebb set the hares running on Twitter. Suspicion fell on the 62-year-old Clwyd West MP David Jones, who lost his job as secretary of state for Wales in the summer cabinet reshuffle.

It was news to Mr Jones, who had himself tweeted earlier: "Parliamentary buzz palpably building up in anticipation of #GE2015. Looking forward to the campaign in Clwyd West - best part of politics."

That in itself wouldn't rule out Mr Jones not being a candidate, but, lest there be any doubt, he later tweeted: "Certainly not!" and "Enjoying looking after Clwyd West".

So who could Mr Bebb have in mind? Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies may be 70 but gives every impression of rather enjoying life as an MP - and has a battle or two against wind farms left in him.

Back to Aberconwy. Could the MP standing down be so "close to home" he is Guto Bebb himself?

It's a question Mr Bebb answers with an enigmatic: "Make of the comment what you want."

Mr Bebb's original tweet was re-tweeted more than 20 times - by, among others, Plaid Cymru and Labour MPs. After Douglas Carswell's defection, Mr Bebb's foray on twitter may not be widely appreciated by Conservative colleagues.