George Osborne quits as MP

pulse

May 16, 2017 10:16 AM

Former chancellor George Osborne announced on Wednesday afternoon that he would be standing down as an MP.

George Osborne

"I am stepping down from the House of Commons — for now. But I will remain active in the debate about our country’s future and on the issues I care about, like the success of the Northern Powerhouse.

"I want a Britain that is free, open, diverse and works with other nations to defend our democratic values in the world."

"I will go on fighting for that Britain I love from the editor’s chair of a great newspaper. It’s still too early to be writing my memoirs."

Osborne was a

I will remain active in the debate about our country’s future and on the issues I care about, like the success of the Northern Powerhouse

He faced more calls to resign as an MP when it was announced in March that he would become the Evening Standard's editor in May. Some MPs suggested that holding both posts would represent a conflict of interest.

Speaking about his new job, he said at the time: "At the age of 45, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life just being an ex-Chancellor. I want new challenges."

"I’m very excited about the opportunity to edit the Evening Standard. I’ve met the team there, and their energy and commitment to this great newspaper are positively infectious," he added.

He pledged that the Standard under his editorship would provide "

Osborne's Evening Standard editorship initially came as a shock in the media world.

Osborne has very little experience of journalism. After university, he tried and failed to get a place on the Times trainee scheme and was turned down by the Economist before freelancing for the Telegraph's diary column, according to the Guardian. However, he quickly moved on to working for the Conservative Party.

As Chancellor, Osborne enjoyed a close relationship with the Standard, despite the paper's accidental leaking of his budget ahead of time in 2013. The paper championed Osborne's efforts to bring NFL to London and featured him on its most recent list of London's 1000 most influential people.

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