[citation needed] In the leadership election that followed the vote of no confidence in Duncan Smith, Ruffley was variously described as being a 'likely supporter' of Michael Howard[9] or a member of David Davis's 'wider [campaign] team'.
He voted against equal marriage for same sex couples[11] With Howard as leader, Ruffley became a whip on 15 March 2004, after the resignation of David Curry.
In 2006, a group that included BBC Radio Suffolk and the East Anglian Daily Times saw the failure of their programme to get St Edmund named as the patron saint of England.
[24] Ruffley has opposed the Liberal Democrats' plan to give the government's shares in the partly nationalised Lloyds and RBS to each of the 46 million people on the electoral roll, and called instead for them to be sold to raise money for a cut in the basic rate of income tax.
[25] In July 2011, Ruffley supported Sajid Javid's private member's bill to limit government debt to 40% of gross domestic product.
[27] On 24 July 2014, it was reported that Ruffley was under investigation by the Conservatives' Chief Whip, Michael Gove, with the possibility that disciplinary measures may be taken against him.
[29][30] On 28 July 2014 he announced that he would stand down at the 2015 general election as a result of the "protracted media debate" regarding his future as an MP, because he believed it would not "serve the interests" of the Conservative Party.
[31] In November 2014 Jo Churchill was selected as the Conservative PPC for the constituency[32] On 17 June 2010, Ruffley suffered minor injuries after jumping into the path of an oncoming train at Victoria Station, London.
[36] In March 2016 Ruffley was reported to have been convicted for drink-driving following his arrest on 27 January when he was found slumped over the wheel of his car following a crash in Page Street, Westminster.
He was reported to be nearly three times over the legal limit and received a two-year ban and ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid community service.