Jeremy Hunt is expected to stand down as an MP before the next election, according to senior Conservatives, who say the chancellor is aware he could suffer a “Michael Portillo” moment on polling day. Hunt has already put himself forward and been selected for the new Surrey constituency of Godalming and Ash, after his South West Surrey seat was dissolved and split into two under boundary changes. His spokesman said on Friday that his position remained that he would stand. But with his party in increasingly dire straits as byelection defeats mount up, and Labour’s poll lead solidifying, several senior sources nationally and locally have told the Observer that they expect him to announce he is stepping down much nearer to the election. Rumours have been swirling among Surrey Conservatives and at Westminster to this effect, amid cataclysmic predictions of wipeout for several serving cabinet ministers after more than 13 years in power. One former minister said that with a Labour government in prospect, the options for Hunt of fighting the new seat were not …

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