Michael Ancram to stand down as MP

Mr Ancram, the former Tory party chairman, wrote to members of his constituency party in Devizes saying that he had decided to resign his seat at the next general election due to health reasons.

He was one of three Tory grandees who The Daily Telegraph disclosed had charged the taxpayer for repairs to a swimming pool; he later agreed to repay the £98.58, saying that the claim on his Parliamentary second home allowance had been a “mistake”.

Mr Ancram, who stood for the Conservative leadership in 2001 and was his party’s deputy leader for four years, was also criticised for spending thousands of pounds on maintaining his large country house, charging for maintenance at a cottage set in the grounds used by his housekeeper. His claims included repairs to an Aga, moss removal and extensive gardening bills.

He insisted that all the claims other than the repair of the swimming pool boiler were necessary for maintaining his designated second home. “None of the other items were extravagant or luxurious,” he said.

In a letter to the chairman of his constituency party, he said he had been taking medication for a heart problem for the last six years.

In his letter to constituency chairman Ken Carter, Mr Ancram said: "It is with genuine sadness that I have decided to stand down from Parliament at the coming general election. This decision has been forced upon me by considerations of health.

"I have for the past six years successfully been on medication for coronary problems.

"I have however recently had to consider the effects of the pressures of another five years of parliamentary and constituency duties upon my health.

"I have also taken into consideration the fact that I will be almost 65 at the time when the election is likely to be held.

"I have reluctantly concluded that for the sake of my family and myself the time has come for me to stand down."

Following the election, Mr Ancram said his wife Jane and he would divide their time between Wiltshire and Scotland.

In a statement, Devizes Conservative Constituency Association said Mr Ancram had been an "excellent" MP.

"Michael Ancram's decision to stand down at the next general election is greeted with a combination of concern at the cause of his decision and great pride and respect at the way he has served the Devizes constituency since first elected in 1992," the association said.

As part of its expose of MPs' expenses, the Daily Telegraph reported that Mr Ancram claimed £98.58 for the repair of his swimming pool boiler as well as more than £3,000 in cleaning costs and £1,250 of gardening expenses in a single year.

Mr Ancram said the claim relating to his swimming pool was a "genuine oversight" and had been repaid in full.

At the time, he also announced that he would stop claiming allowances on his designated second home, which is worth £1.5 million, one of three homes owned by Mr Ancram and his wife Jane worth a total of £8 million.

Despite owning the house outright without a mortgage, he claimed close to the maximum allowed.

Mr Ancram, the Marquess of Lothian, is understood to have been unhappy with David Cameron over his handling of the expenses scandal.

He criticised the party leader’s decision to discipline Tory grandees who had claimed for large gardening, repairs and cleaning bills while charging the taxpayer similar amounts for his own mortgage interest payments.

Last month, it emerged that Mr Ancram had received more than £200,000 in the last two years from the Common Agriculture Policy for his 2,000 acre farm in the Scottish borders.

First elected to Parliament in February 1974 for the seat of Berwickshire and East Lothian, he failed to be re-elected a few months later in the October 1974 election before re-entering the Commons in 1979 for Edinburgh South.

He lost the seat in 1987 general election, returning to the Commons for the third time in 1992. As Minister for State at the Northern Ireland Office, he oversaw the start of the peace process.

The Devizes seat, which Mr Ancram won with a majority over the Liberal Democrats of nearly 13,000, is one of the safest in the country, and there will be fierce competition to replace him.

As many as 30 Conservatives are expected to stand down following The Daily Telegraph’s expenses disclosures, along with more than 100 Labour MPs.