Conservative former cabinet member Sir Alok Sharma has announced he will not stand as an MP at the next election.

Sir Alok, who chaired the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, was critical of Rishi Sunak recently when the prime minister watered down the government’s climate commitments.

He said last week that “it’d be incredibly damaging for business confidence, for inward investment, if the political consensus that we have forged in our country on the environment and climate action is fractured.

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“And, frankly, I really do not believe that it’s going to help any political party electorally which chooses to go down this path.”

In his letter to his constituency announcing his decision, the MP for Reading West said he will still “champion in parliament the causes I care deeply about, especially climate action”.

Sir Alok’s seat is being changed as part of the review of constituency boundaries before the next election, expected in 2024.

Before serving as the president of COP26, he was a housing minister, then an employment minister. He went on to serve as international development secretary and business secretary.

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