Michael Ancram latest grandee MP to step down after expenses scandal

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The former party chairman wrote to his constituency party members in Devizes saying he had decided to go for health reasons.

He was one of three Tory grandees "outed" by The Daily Telegraph for charging the taxpayer for swimming pool repairs; he agreed to repay £98.58, calling the second home claim a mistake.

Mr Ancram, 64, the Marquess of Lothian, stood for the party leadership in 2001 and was deputy leader for four years. He spent thousands on his country house, including maintaining a grounds cottage used by his housekeeper.

He is understood to have been unhappy at David Cameron's handling of the expenses scandal.