Britain’s former prime minister said today that he has decided to resign from being the Conservative MP for Witney.
He said he had been thinking long and hard about the matter over the summer and concluded that it would not be possible to function as a bankbench MP after having served as the head of state.
It has been two months since he resigned as prime minister in the wake of the referendum vote to leave the EU.
In an interview with ITV, the former prime minister said: “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 by-election. I will give the Conservative candidate my full support.
“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,” he said.
He also said he did not want to become a “distraction” for Theresa May’s government.
Speaking in his constituency, Cameron, 49, said it would be difficult to be on the backbenches without becoming "a big distraction and a big diversion" from the work of the new government.
He said he had not made any "firm decisions" on what to do next, adding that he wanted to continue to contribute to public life.
Sources have been quoted as saying that Cameron will not engage in “causes close to his heart”, such as anti-corruption, international aid, fighting dementia, and education. He has in the past been critical of grammar schools.
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