One Year After The General Election: Where Are Former MPs Now?
Former leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt lost her Portsmouth North seat to Labour's Amanda Martin (Alamy)
9 min read
While Labour were the clear winners in their landslide 2024 general election victory, there were many others who came out as losers – including 218 incumbent MPs who lost their seats. PoliticsHome investigates where these former MPs are now and how they have attempted to rebuild their careers.
The vast majority (175) of MPs who lost their seats were Conservatives, as well as 28 SNP MPs, a few Labour, and some from smaller parties.
PoliticsHome analysis shows that the most popular profession for these former MPs is public affairs, which involves helping clients engage with government officials and policymakers. At least 36 MPs who lost their seats last year now work directly for public affairs firms, with many others carrying out public affairs roles across a range of industries.
A large number, at least 30, are still directly involved in politics, through either being granted a life peerage to sit in the House of Lords, continuing or winning elected roles in local or devolved government, or taking up staff roles for political parties. Six former MPs are now sitting in the Lords since last year, including Conservatives Thérèse Coffey, Mark Harper, Simon Hart, Rachel Maclean and Victoria Prentis, and Labour's Thangam Debbonaire.
At least 14 former MPs are advising on business strategy and solutions, and there are numerous examples of former politicians landing media roles across broadcast, podcasts and columns, returning to the law profession, teaching in schools, colleges and universities, and working in sectors including energy, financial services, and charity.
Around 60 of the former MPs' current roles are unknown as they have not been shared publicly online, suggesting that some have not yet secured their next employment or are voluntarily taking a break before returning to the job market.
Gamblers
Philip Davies is one former Conservative MP who was embroiled in a betting scandal during the 2024 general election after he betted on himself to lose his seat (and betted on his wife Esther McVey winning hers). He is now the chairman of Star Sports betting company.
Laurence Robertson has also come under some scrutiny since the election. As an MP he earned around £24,000 a year from the Betting and Gaming Council, and since losing his seat, Tortoise and BBC Radio 4 have reported that he has used his parliamentary pass to meet with shadow ministers since the election, while also working as director and founder of public affairs firm Theoc Consultancy. Robertson has said that he has carried out no lobbying since leaving parliament.
Rebuilders
A few former MPs have decided to stay closely tied with the world of politics, in an attempt to rebuild their parties after shattering defeat. The most high-profile roles gained by former MPs have been mayoral positions.
Conservative Paul Bristow's victory in the race to become Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough makes him one of only two Tory metro mayors in England. Former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns left the party after the general election and joined Reform, going on to win the Lincolnshire mayor contest in May 2025.
Along with Jenkyns, two other former Tory MPs have now quit the Conservatives and joined Reform, including Marco Longhi and Anne Marie Morris – the latter of whom joined to develop the newer party's social care policy.
Former housing minister (and close ally of Kemi Badenoch) Lee Rowley is now the Conservative leader's chief of staff and is closely involved in developing her strategy as leader and determining the future direction of the party.
Former defence secretary Grant Shapps has set up an organisation called Conservatives Together to support Conservative activists and help rebuild the campaign machine. David Johnston has founded a similar organisation, Conservative Networks, which links activists with businesses and aims to "regain the support we lost, find a broader range of candidates to stand at elections or advise those who do". Former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers advises a firm which develops political strategy for Conservative MPs.
Former defence secretary Grant Shapps supported James Cleverly's Tory leadership bid last year (Alamy)
Other more senior former politicians, such as Penny Mordaunt, have been keeping a relatively low political profile. Mordaunt did address the Tory party conference in autumn 2024 to reflect on the general election loss, but otherwise has steered clear of taking direct political roles and was appointed as chair of the Coalition for Global Prosperity.
On the SNP side, nine former MPs are now standing as SNP MSP candidates in next year's Holyrood election, and many are still actively working on campaigns and events to further the cause of Scottish independence.
TV and podcast stars
Some former politicians have ventured into the world of media, news and showbiz.
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Miriam Cates have continued to hold presenting gigs at GB News. Rees-Mogg and his family have also starred in their own reality TV show, 'Meet the Rees-Moggs', which aired in December.
Michael Fabricant appeared on 'Celebrity Big Brother', where he was the first contestant voted out. His former researcher Ben Harris appeared on the TV show 'Virgin Island'.
Multiple other former Tory and SNP MPs are columnists for publications including the Spectator, The Scotsman and The National.
Jacob Rees-Mogg arriving for a screening of new Discovery+ reality series Meet the Rees-Moggs (Alamy)
Meanwhile, former shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth is now the co-host of the 'Politics Inside Out' podcast (following a similar model to Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart's wildly successful podcast 'The Rest is Politics'). Ashworth led the think tank Labour Together before quitting this month, and last year spent some time in the US advising Kamala Harris's 2024 US presidential campaign.
Bookworms
Multiple former MPs have published or are in the process of writing their own books.
Former chief whip Simon Hart published a memoir about his time being in charge of party discipline, Bob Seely's book 'The New Total War' is published this month, and James Gray is, intriguingly, writing a book about the Arctic while also publishing a weekly column on Substack.
Former prime minister Liz Truss has added two new chapters to her memoir, 'Ten Years to Save the West', to reflect on last year's general election.
Stirring the pot
Some former parliamentarians have chosen to stay in the spotlight by posting adversarial takes on social media and speaking at contentious events around the world.
Truss has been busy on the circuits of US conservative platforms, including CPAC, promoting her memoir and making a sizeable income from speaking engagements. She has teased that she has "unfinished business" in politics and declared her support for US President Donald Trump.
Liz Truss, former PM, delivered a speech on the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary in May (Alamy)
Former Tory MP Steve Baker has gone as far as to set up an organisation called Provocation People, which promotes "adversarial collaboration" and promises clients it will "help you transform your decision-making by systematically dismantling groupthink".
Meanwhile, former independent MP Andrew Bridgen (who previously lost the Tory whip) has continued to post anti-Covid vaccine views online and is currently trying to sue former health secretary Matt Hancock for libel. His LinkedIn page still describes him as the Member of Parliament for North West Leicestershire, despite having lost his seat a year ago.
The ever-controversial George Galloway, former Workers Party MP, has also attracted headlines in the last 12 months. In May, he travelled to Tehran to collect an award on behalf of now-dead Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and also attended Vladimir Putin's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.
Back to family business
Multiple MPs have returned to focusing on running their family businesses. Although Richard Drax, from the aristocratic Drax family, has not shared any new roles online, he still owns his family's operational sugar plantation in Barbados – which has historic links to slavery.
Former farming minister and chief whip Mark Spencer still owns his family farm in Nottinghamshire, while also taking on new roles in the agriculture sector.
Hoping for a comeback
Multiple former Tory MPs – including Douglas Ross, Adam Holloway, and Alexander Stafford – have admitted their intentions to stand to be MPs again if they can.
Three former Conservative MPs – Ben Bradley, Karl McCartney, and Matt Warman – put their hats in the ring to be the Conservative candidate for the Greater Lincolnshire mayor race, but none of them got selected. Former Tory MP Nick Fletcher ran for Doncaster Mayor, but came third with Labour winning and the Reform candidate coming in second place. John Stevenson, the former Conservative MP for Carlisle, hopes to be the Tory candidate for Mayor of Cumbria.
Three former MPs have also unsuccessfully run in council elections since last year, including former minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Derek Thomas and Steve Double. They lost their ward elections to Labour, the Lib Dems and Reform respectively, with Trevelyan and Thomas coming in third place.
Four former SNP MPs also announced their intention to stand to be MSPs in the 2026 Holyrood election, but were not selected.
Passion projects
An MP's work is never done – so many of those who lost last year have since taken the opportunity to slow down, pursue old hobbies, and take on roles in areas they are passionate about.
Former MP Julian Knight, who had lost the Tory whip after the Met Police received allegations against him of sexual assault (of which he was later cleared), has updated his LinkedIn profile to 'Company Director, WW1 battlefields tour guide'.
After losing his seat, former Conservative MP David Morris said "it's time to go home and just chill out". Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer's LinkedIn profile simply says: "Happy."
Former minister Johnny Mercer's LinkedIn bio says he is "happy" (Alamy)
Giles Watling said after the election that he would retire from politics and in the meantime "take it easy, do a bit of gardening and get to know my wife properly again".
Former cabinet minister Robert Buckland has been appointed as the Third Church Estates Commissioner by the Church of England.
The previous MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, Jack Lopresti, is now working on defence intelligence for the Ukrainian military, while former MP James Sunderland has returned to working for the British Army.
Former Tory MP Simon Jupp is following his passions in a different way. As an MP, he accused South West Water of "environmental vandalism" and described its performance as "shameful". He now works for their parent company.
Article and spreadsheet updated as of 4 July 2025.
