Alert – Ex-minister Paul Scully joins exodus of Tory MPs quitting at the next election and slams party for not choosing him as candidate for London mayor – days after he was mocked for suggesting there were ‘no-go zones’ in the capital

Former minister Paul Scully today became the latest Tory MP to announce they would step down at the next election – and attacked the party for not choosing him to run for London mayor. 

The Sutton and Cheam MP said that the party was perceived as ‘being disrespectful’ to the capital after choosing assembly member Susan Hall to run against Sadiq Khan in May. 

Mr Scully told the Evening Standard he had been disappointed not to make the three-strong shortlist to be the Conservative candidate, adding: ‘I don’t think they had Londoners’ best interests [in mind] when they were working out the job description that they were trying to select for.’

He becomes the 59th Tory MP to announce they will not contest the next election.

His announcement comes says after he was criticised for saying that parts of London with large Muslim populations had become ‘no-go areas’. 

He told the Standard: ‘At the moment we’ve lost focus as a party. The Budget clearly is a moment to try and regain that focus, but if we don’t then there’s a real risk that we just repeat the mistakes of 1997 and start chasing an ideology rather than listening to what people actually want.

The Sutton and Cheam MP said that the party was perceived as ‘being disrespectful’ to the capital after choosing assembly member Susan Hall to run against Sadiq Khan in May.

Mr Scully told the Evening Standard he had been disappointed not to make the three-strong shortlist to be the Conservative candidate, adding: ‘I don’t think they had Londoners’ best interests [in mind] when they were working out the job description that they were trying to select for.’

‘I don’t want to retire as a politician but I’m not going to be part of the long term solution.

‘So it’s better for me to go. It’s been a real privilege to be the MP for my home area but it’s just the right time to go before things outside that home area start to present themselves.’

Mr Scully was among the many critics of Tory MP Lee Anderson, who was suspended for saying that mayor sadiq Khan was controlled by ‘Islamists’. 

But in a radio interview last week he said he could see what Mr Anderson was ‘trying to drive at’ in his remarks about pro-Palestinian protests. 

In a discussion about whether the Conservatives have a problem with Islamophobia, Mr Scully told BBC Radio London he didn’t like the term due to ‘wider connotations’ and said he preferred to use ‘anti-Muslim hatred’.

He went on to suggest that people had ‘concerns about… their neighbourhoods changing in parts of the North’, which he said were being reflected in a ‘really, really clumsy way’.

‘We’ve got to have a sensible use of language so we can have a constructive, adult debate about this,’ Mr Scully added. Pressed on his remarks, the MP continued: ‘The point I am trying to make is, if you look at parts of Tower Hamlets, where there are no-go areas. 

‘Parts of Birmingham, Sparkhill, there are no-go areas – mainly because of doctrine, mainly because of people abusing in many ways their religion. It’s not the doctrine of Islam to espouse what some of these people are saying. That is the concern that needs to be addressed.’

He later apologised for the remarks after being criticised by figures including Tory West Midlands mayor Andy Street.