He told The Daily Telegraph that he informed current Prime Minister Theresa May of his decision Monday afternoon.
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Britain’s former prime minister David Cameron said on Monday he was resigning from his seat in parliament to avoid becoming a distraction for his successor, ending his political career just weeks after he lost a referendum to stay in the European Union. As a leader of the “remain” camp, he had urged the citizens to vote to remain within the union. However, Mr Cameron also played down any splits saying “I support her, I support what’s she doing, and she’s got off to a cracking start”, he said.
May has moved to distance herself from some of Cameron’s policies, particularly in education where she has ditched his pledge not to increase the number of selective state schools.
Former chancellor and close ally George Osborne said it was a “sad day”, tweeting: “We came into Parliament together, had a great partnership + I will miss him alongside me on the green benches over the coming years”.
May expressed gratitude for Cameron’s service in a post to Facebook.
At the time of his resignation as premier, he insisted he was “keen to continue” as a constituency MP and meant to seek re-election at the next general election, due in 2020. But frankly I don’t want to get into the whys and wherefores of this individual policy.
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.
Mr Cameron added that he would continue to live locally and support local causes and charities – but that he would “obviously” have to “build a life outside of Westminster”. However, the citizens voted for Brexit and Cameron’s “Remain” campaign suffered a loss, forcing him to step down from the position of prime minister.
The former PM said he had met with his consituency party chairman earlier this morning, as well as his staff in Witney and London, before making his public resignation statement.
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Despite Cameron’s denial he quit in response to May’s school reform, The Times said the former prime minister wants the freedom to speak out on the matter.
