Theresa May has announced she will step down as an MP at the next general election, bringing a 27-year career in the UK Parliament to an end.
A senior Conservative who served as a defence minister under Mrs May, 67, told The National she had made a “massive contribution” to holding the party together in the post-Brexit years.
Tobias Ellwood also praised Britain’s second ever female prime minister for her stance on “challenging sexual exploitation across the world”.
Mrs May, who last week attended the Arab Women’s Summit in London, is the latest Conservative MP to step down joining 63 others who will resign their seats at the election later this year, including five who will not contest their current constituencies but have yet to reveal their intentions.
She has been a consistent campaigner on modern slavery and human trafficking, and launched her Global Commission in October, backed by the UK and Bahrain governments.
As prime minister, she was notable for leading a mass expulsion of Russian spies across Europe after the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury – a botched assassination attempt on double agent Sergei Skripal and his wife Yulia in 2018 – as well as giving a moving tribute in the House of Commons following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
"Since stepping down as prime minister, I have enjoyed being a backbencher again and having more time to work for my constituents and champion causes close to my heart, including most recently launching a Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking," she said in a statement to her local newspaper, the Maidenhead Advertiser.
"I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve."
Mrs May inherited the highly toxic Brexit issue when she became prime minister in 2016 following David Cameron’s resignation.
For three years she attempted to drive legislation through Parliament in the divorce from the European Union, while trying to make it as economically beneficial to Britain as possible.
Yet much of her efforts were scuppered by arch-Brexiteers who were led by disgraced former prime minister Boris Johnson in what was one of the most politically challenging periods in Westminster history.
“She navigated the party through the most difficult of times when there was collective indecision on how to handle the Brexit result,” said Mr Ellwood, who voted "remain" in the Brexit referendum.
“There are many people still in denial that she had a model of Brexit that was economically sound and where we've eventually landed."
But opposition to her proposed Brexit deal fuelled a no-confidence vote, diminishing her authority.
Facing a string of party rebellions and a parliamentary stalemate that tested the nation's constitution to its limits, she resigned as prime minister in 2019, describing the role as having been the "honour of my life".
Theresa May through the years - in pictures
She was first elected MP for Maidenhead in 1997 and served as home secretary under David Cameron from 2010 to 2016 before succeeding him as prime minister.
She lost her majority in a snap election in 2017 but remained at No 10 thanks to a deal with the DUP in the resulting hung parliament.
Mr Ellwood argued that Mrs May resembled former US president Jimmy Carter as a “reasoned voice of criticism to our own party”, ensuring that the Conservative ideology “didn't drift away” to the right wing.
“She was also a leading voice in the very divisive period between the end of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss era, willing to be a big anchor for what Conservatism should be about, and I think she will be hugely missed on that front.”
She did not “sycophantically support” everything the government said but was a key influence in ensuring the party remained united behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak despite the current “tribalism”.
Mr Ellwood said she had been a great supporter of women’s rights and mental health services.
Almost 100 MPs have now announced they will not contest their seats at the next election, including 64 current or former Conservatives, the most Tories to leave Parliament since Mrs May entered the Commons in 1997.
However, Mrs May is the most senior member of the Conservative Party to announce they will not seek re-election.
Following her announcement, Mrs May continued with her constituency duties, visiting a primary school on Friday where pupils were taking part in a scheme to encourage girls to play football on International Women’s Day.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to Mrs May, describing her as “a relentless campaigner” and “a fiercely loyal MP to the people of Maidenhead” who “defines what it means to be a public servant”.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
The specs
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
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Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
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Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
