TheCable

Two months after he stepped down as the prime minister of Britain, David Cameron has resigned as a member of parliament (MP).

The former prime minister said he took the decision “with a heavy heart”, added that he did not want to become a “distraction and a diversion” to the new government.

Cameron stepped down on July 13 in the wake of defeat in the EU referendum.

The former Tory leader had promised to stay on as an MP until 2020, in the initial wake of the result.

During a trip to Warsaw, Poland, for a NATO meeting in early July after the referendum defeat, Cameron was asked if he would pledge to remain an MP until 2020.

He replied: “It’s my intention to continue serving as an MP and helping represent the interests of the people of West Oxfordshire and anything else I do will come a bit later.”

However, in a statement released on Monday, Cameron said he had “fully considered” his position over the summer and decided it was best to step aside.

“In my view, the circumstances of my resignation as Prime Minister and the realities of modern politics make it very difficult to continue on the backbenches without the risk of becoming a diversion to the important decisions that lie ahead for my successor in Downing Street and the government,” the statement read.

“I have thought about this long and hard over the summer and I have decided the right thing to do is to stand down as the member of parliament for Witney. There will be a bye election. I will give the Conservative candidate my full support.

“But in my view, with modern politics, with the circumstances of my resignation, it isn’t really possible to be a proper backbench MP as a former prime minister.

“I think everything you do will become a big distraction and a big diversion from what the government needs to do for our country. And I support Theresa May. I think she’s got off to a great start. I think she can be a strong prime minister for our country. And I don’t want to be that distraction. I want Witney to have a new MP who can play a full part in parliamentary and political life without being a distraction.

“I want to thank everybody here in West Oxfordshire who has been so supportive. It has been a great honour and privilege to serve this area and to serve these brilliant people. I’m going to go on living locally.”