Douglas Carswell just stuck two fingers up at Ukip

The former Ukip Clacton MP Douglas Carswell has announced he will not be standing at the upcoming general election in June.

Having quit the party he defected to from the Conservatives, he has written a blog post explaining his reasons for not standing in the 2017 election.

Carswell wrote:

Over the past twelve years I have had great fun working with, and getting to know, many wonderful local people. Together, we ran all sorts of local campaigns, from safeguarding local services to getting a new seafront. Local has always come first.

I have decided that I will not now be seeking re-election.

The former Clacton MP suggested he may move out of politics, or at least the public glare:

Having been an MP for about half my adult life, I believe that it is time for me to move on to other things.

I look forward to being able to read newspapers without appearing in them.

He also gave Ukip a good kicking:

I intend to vote Conservative ‪on June 8th and will be offering my full support to whoever the Clacton Constituency Conservatives select as their candidate.

Ouch.

In March, Carswell quit Ukip on the grounds that Article 50 had been triggered and the process of leaving the European Union seemed on course to be achieved:

Like many of you, I switched to Ukip because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU.

Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving Ukip.

More: Everything you need to know about Douglas Carswell in one tweet