George Osborne has announced he is quitting as an MP "for now".
The former Chancellor was recently announced as the new editor of the Evening Standard.
In a letter to his local Conservative association in Tatton, Cheshire, he wrote: “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.”
He also said he was "very excited" at the prospect of editing the paper.
Mr Osborne was previously rejected by The Times and The Economist while attempting to break into journalism after leaving Oxford University.
He later carried out freelance work for The Daily Telegraph's Peterborough diary column before joining the Conservative Research Department, going on to become head of its political department in 1993.
