A politician quits

for any number of reasons. Some retire honorably having served their electorates to the best of their ability. Some are forced to leave due to one sort of scandal or another. Others get dumped come election time. 
Up until a recent change in the electoral boundaries we lived in the electorate of a man who is quitting. He isn't running again. The reason for that is pretty obvious. Polling shows that, were he to run again, he might get 5% of the vote. At the last election he got 54% of the first preferences. 
A few weeks after having been elected he left the party he had stood for and went "independent" - accepting a ministry in a government which had managed to retain power on a minority of the votes. He was the second "independent" to do it. 
It left a sour taste.
Now, only weeks ago saying he would "definitely" be running again and having sent out a long newsletter about his "achievements", he has said he won't be standing again. I happen to know that a second lot of private polling indicated that he would be lucky to get that 5%. It would be humiliating. He has taken a "strategic" decision to leave. 
I don't like him. I didn't like him when he first got elected some twenty-one years ago and my view has never changed. I knew the electorate secretary at the time - knew her well. She had taken on the position from the previous electorate secretary who was also someone I knew well. They were JPs and, knowing what my job is, they would drop what they were doing and sign documents or witness my signature. I tried not to take advantage of it and I made sure they knew I appreciated it too. In return they knew they could ask for some non-political help from me as well. 
Not so this man. JP hours were drastically reduced for everyone. Even at the designated times you were made to feel you weren't welcome. People went elsewhere. I eventually found a local retired man who was still a JP and went to him instead. He's delighted to help and I have been able to help him in return.
There will be many disappointed people in the electorate. So many people have said, "I'm looking forward to voting him out."
But, he still has a tiny level of support. Now he is asking people to vote not for the party he once belonged to but a fledgling party with a leader who is good at getting publicity for himself. They are, apart from their leader, completely inexperienced but the peculiarities of the electoral system mean they may get in on a very small proportion of the votes and, at very least, have the balance of power if people vote for them. There will be people who do just that.
It seems my former MP hasn't finished wrecking the joint yet.