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| David Cameron resigns as MP for Witney with immediate effect | David Cameron resigns as MP for Witney with immediate effect |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| David Cameron is to stand down as MP with immediate effect, he has announced. | David Cameron is to stand down as MP with immediate effect, he has announced. |
| Mr Cameron, who has represented Witney in Oxfordshire since 2001, will trigger a by-election to find a successor for the area in Parliament. | |
| He had stepped down as Prime Minister the morning of the 24 June European Union referendum result after it became clear he had accidentally taken Britain out of the bloc. | |
| Mr Cameron told broadcasters he would not be able to properly represent his area given the circumstancs of his departure as Prime Minister. | Mr Cameron told broadcasters he would not be able to properly represent his area given the circumstancs of his departure as Prime Minister. |
| Backing Theresa May's premiership, he said also said he did not want to be a "distraction" for the Government. | |
| "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," he said. | "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," he said. |
| "I think everything you do would become a big distraction and a big diversion for what the government needs to do for our country. I support Theresa May, I think she’s got off to a great start, I think she can be a strong Prime Minister for our country. | "I think everything you do would become a big distraction and a big diversion for what the government needs to do for our country. I support Theresa May, I think she’s got off to a great start, I think she can be a strong Prime Minister for our country. |
| "I don’t want to be that distraction. I want Witney to have a new MP who can play a full part in parliamentary and political life without being a distraction." | |
| He 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". | |
| "I want to thank everybody here in West Oxfordshire who have been so supportive," he added. | |
| 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. | |
| The announcement, made in an interview, is a reversal of previous statements by the former prime minister – who had said he wanted to stay on. | |
| In May this year he told BBC Radio Oxford that he was "very keen to continue" as an MP after the scheduled 2020 general election. | |
| Asked whether he would stand at the time he replied: “That is very much my intention.” | Asked whether he would stand at the time he replied: “That is very much my intention.” |
| The former prime minister's retreat from elected office comes after controversy over his resignation honours list. He was accused of awarding his 'cronies' with honours; a Whitehall investigation has been launched. | |