Election: Clwyd West MP David Jones scraps plan to stand down

Former Welsh Secretary and Brexit minister David Jones has reversed his decision to stand down at the next general election.

The Clwyd West Conservative MP said in September it was time for him to step aside at the age of 67.

But Mr Jones said the decision to call a snap election on 12 December had made him think again.

The pro-Brexit MP, who was elected in 2005, played a significant role in the Welsh Vote Leave campaign in 2016.

"The position is that I have been asked by a number of members of my association to stand," Mr Jones told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"I have also had a number of constituents who have asked me to stand.

"I am particularly keen to ensure that I'm in the House at the time that Brexit is ultimately delivered because I have spent the best part of the last four years concentrating on Brexit and I had hoped that it would have been concluded by the time I had left.

"Because of what has happened over the last few weeks, clearly that is not going to be the case.

"So I want to come back to help deliver Brexit."

Mr Jones served as a Welsh Secretary under David Cameron for two years, with his tenure ending in 2014.

During his time in the cabinet he clashed with then-Welsh Conservative assembly leader Andrew RT Davies over an eventually-scrapped restriction to income tax powers for the assembly.

He later served as a Brexit minister during Theresa May's administration.