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Among Tory headliners, Interior Minister Amber Rudd decided not to run in the December 12 legislative elections. REUTERS / Henry Nicholls / Photo File

Legislative candidates had until Thursday morning to make themselves known. And several figures of British political life will be absent from these lists on the right and on the left.

The haemorrhage mainly affects conservatives and especially women. Out of 43 Tory deputies considered centrist, only 26 decided to take part in the December 12 election. Among the headliners, two ministers, that of Culture, Nicky Morgan, and the Interior, Amber Rudd, have given up to present themselves. Involved: the harassment and the threats of which they claim to be the object.

Former Conservative Women's Minister Justine Greening explained her decision to withdraw from the race, while admitting that she did not even know if she would vote for her party: " I'm still a center-right voter but I had a fundamental difference with my party on Brexit, "she says.

► See also: United Kingdom: Nigel Farage renounces the seats held by the Conservatives

The men are not left behind: Theresa May's former right-hand man, David Lidington, former Finance Minister Philip Hammond, or MP Oliver Letwin announce that they are leaving politics. The latter two were among the 21 Conservatives elected from the House of Commons excluded from the party by Boris Johnson in September for opposing him on the Brexit.

Risk of radicalization?

Labor side, also defections including that of the number two party, Tom Watson. The MP claims to resign for personal rather than political reasons, but he opposed Jeremy Corbyn on Brexit and the management of rampant anti-Semitism within the political party.

This wave of departures worries observers who see the risk of further radicalization of British political life. An editorial in the Financial Times concludes: Whatever happens to Brexit, the defining political challenge for the coming years will be to rebuild the fractured center.

► See also: British Legislative: The Economic Promises of the Big Two