Backbench MP
Hoon resigned from his post as Transport Secretary on 5 June 2009 during a Cabinet reshuffle, claiming that he wanted to spend more time with his family. On 6 January 2010, he and fellow ex-minister Patricia Hewitt jointly called for a secret ballot on the future of the leadership of Gordon Brown. The following day, he said that it appeared to have failed and was "over". Brown later referred to the call for a secret ballot as a "form of silliness". After the failed coup there was a backlash against Hoon which flowed over into his Ashfield constituency in Nottinghamshire where some Labour party members wanted to deselect him.
During the Iraq Inquiry, Hoon said that the first he knew of the 45 minute Iraq weapon claim was when he read it in the dossier on Iraq's weapons in September 2002.
Hoon had said that he would defend his seat at the 2010 general election but according to the Financial Times he had "finally bowed to pressure" and on 11 February 2010, he announced that he would stand down as an MP at the next election. Since his retirement from politics he has set up a consultancy firm "Taylor and Hoon".
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