One of Twitter’s most talked about and followed MP’s Louise Mensch, the Conservative member for Corby and East Northamptonshire, has suddenly resigned this morning.
The Northamptonshire Telegraph broke the story. She’s moving to New York and sparking an unwelcome by-election for David Cameron and a chance for Labour and Ed Miliband.
It is a marginal seat for the Tories, of course it would be less of a marginal if Boris Johnson stood. Would he?
The MP, who was only elected in in 2010, is stepping down from her role as she said she found it increasingly difficult to juggle family responsibilities with her publicity political career.
Mensch also tweeted her departure from national politics and said that she was devastated by the decision.
I am devastated by the necessary decision that I have had to announce today. It has been an incredible honour serving the people of #CorbyEN
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 6, 2012
It has, however, proved impossible to balance the needs of my family. I written to the Prime Minister; this will be published in due course.
— Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) August 6, 2012
Since being elected Mensch has made a bit of a splash. Mostly on Twitter. Most recently she spoke out in support of #IAmSpartacus tweeter Paul Chambers after he won an appeal over his joke bomb tweet she also became the target of an online troll who was later jailed. She also became involved in a series of spats including one with Piers Morgan after it emerged there was a tape of him appearing to admit to the use of hacked stories.
She recently launched here own social platform for the US elections, called Menshn. Be interesting to see if she pursues this now she is set to leave parliament as Mensch, who is also a successful chicklit author writing as Louise Bagshawe, said she will will move to New York with her three children to live with her husband, Metallica manager Peter Mensch.
“She said that every effort had been made to ensure she could stay in her role, but she had ultimately made the tough decision to ensure the welfare of her family.
“An official announcement will be made nationally at 10am today but Mrs Mensch wanted her constituents to be the first to know of her resignation.
“Mrs Mensch added that she had planned to move after the next election in 2015 but was concerned that her children would be too settled in East Northamptonshire and it would be unfair to uproot them at that stage. Instead, she has decided to wind down her constituency affairs now, and a by-election will be held on November 15 at the same time as the police commissioner elections,” the Northamptonshire Telegraph reported.
You can read Mensch’s letter to Cameron and his letter in full here on the ITV website.
