South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes has resigned from his post as Minister of State at the Department for Transport.
Amid a two-day Tory cabinet reshuffle, Mr Hayes gave a handwritten resignation letter to prime minister Theresa May on Tuesday.
Mr Hayes held ministerial roles across six government departments since 1999.
“It’s unusual to be in six government departments and that’s been a real privilege,” Mr Hayes said of his time in government.
He said he looks forward to the next phase his career and the relative freedom of returning to the backbench.
“Because I’ve been a frontbencher for so long and minister since 2010, that brings lots of chances to do things but it does limit what you can say. You are limited to the brief that you hold at that time, but a backbencher doesn’t have those limits.
“There are virtues to both, actually, and not many people get the chance to do both and I’ve not had the chance to be a back bencher in donkey’s years. That presents a new phase in my parliamentary life which I am looking forward to.”
Mr Hayes added: “Many people remain a backbencher forever and never get the chance to be in government. I have had that chance but obviously this presents a new set of opportunities and challenges and I’m really looking forward to those. I’ve been a minister for a very long time and you have to recognise that parliamentary life has different phases.”
The next phase of Mr Hayes’ career came during the prime minister’s reshuffle.
“The way that the reshuffles work is the prime minister invites you to go and see her,” he said.
“The prime minister was very gracious and complimentary about my record and she said I’d done a lot of important work.”
“We talked about the work I did with her in the home office when I was in counter-terrorism and other achievements in government.” That wasn’t all they discussed, however.
“She basically said, look john, you’ve been a great minister, you’ve got a record you can be really proud of but in a reshuffle space has to made in order to bring on some of the newer people.
“She said that’s the only reason and we have to sometimes move people on.”
“It wasn’t an unpleasant conversation and she was very generous to me.
“We agreed I wouldn’t be ‘sacked’, we agreed I would offer my resignation. It sets the relationship.
“In this kind of situation you can either take that kind of grown-up view or throw your toys out the pram. I take the view that in those circumstances you’ve got to behave responsibly and you’ve got to recognise this is a new opportunity.”
Boris Johnson’s brother, Jo Johnson, will replace Mr Hayes as Minister of State at the Department for Transport (DfT).
During his time in the role, to which he was appointed in July 2016, Mr Hayes “worked on a whole range of things from driverless vehicles to space and maritime issues. I have formed a very close relationship with the maritime community”.
Iain Mackinnon, Secretary, of Maritime Skills Alliance, told The Voice: “People across the industry will be sorry to see John Hayes leave his job as Maritime Minister. He clearly liked us and we liked him, and we knew that was working hard on our behalf.
“For the Maritime Skills Alliance we were doubly pleased to count him as an ally in promoting skills development and apprenticeships, where his personal passion and commitment shone through in everything he said and did.”
Jos Standerwick, chief executive of Maritime London, said that under Mr Hayes, there had been increased engagement from the members of the DfT.
“From ministerial level down, those with an interest in development of the UK maritime professional services within the Department for Transport are engaged, knowledgeable, ready and willing to work in a constructive manner with the sector. This engagement has noticeably stepped up as a consequence of voting to leave the EU.”
Mr Hayes said he would continue to focus on Brexit and continue a special interest in “the welfare of vulnerable people”.
Away from ministerial duties, Mr Hayes said he can now concentrate further on his original political ambition: “When I aimed to get into politics originally and I wanted to be an MP, I wanted to be the representative of the people amongst whom I live. That has always been the biggest driver and the most exciting thing you can do. Anything beyond that is a bonus.”
“My ambition was always good to be a good constituent MP. It remains my ambition and I look forward to continuing to do that for many years to come,” he said.
