George Osborne quits as MP

LONDON — Former chancellor George Osborne announced on Wednesday afternoon that he would be standing down as an MP "for now" as he prepares to take over as editor of the Evening Standard newspaper.

The Standard reported that the Conservative MP wrote a letter to his constituents in Tatton, Oxfordshire, which said:

"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 Conservative MP for Tatton since 2001 and served as chancellor between 2010 and 2016. He resigned following the EU referendum in June 2016, in which he had campaigned for Remain. He had, until now, remained an MP for Tatton.

Since stepping down as Chancellor though, Osborne has drawn criticism for taking on a series of lucrative private sector roles and speaking appointments despite still serving as an MP.

Osborne earns £650,000 a year for a one-day-a-week advisory role for investment giant BlackRock and has earned over £750,000 from speaking at finance firms around the world since leaving Downing Street.

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 "straight facts and informed opinion to help them to make the big decisions Britain now faces about the kind of country we want to be."

He added: "That starts with the coverage of this general election."

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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