Ken Clarke has change of heart: will stand at election
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke, one of the UK’s most prominent pro-EU MPs, has decided he will stand at the general election in June, his office confirmed on Wednesday.
Mr Clarke said in June that he would stand down at the next election, which at the time was not scheduled before 2020. “I will not stand again,” he said at the time.
But it seems the early election, now lined up for June 8, would be too soon for the 76-year-old MP for Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire to depart.
Mr Clarke, renowned for his love of jazz, cricket, Hush Puppy shoes and straight talking, urged former prime minister David Cameron not to hold a referendum on the EU and warned that the short-term consequences of a Brexit vote would be “quite unpleasant”.
(Image: PA)
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