Former cabinet minister James Purnell, who led an attempt to oust Gordon Brown as Prime Minister last year, said on Friday he would stand down as an MP at this year's election. Purnell, 39, said he had decided not to contest the Stalybridge and Hyde seat in Greater Manchester and will continue as director of the Open Left project at the left-leaning think-tank Demos.
"I have been proud to represent the people of Stalybridge and Hyde. And this has been an extremely difficult decision to make. But I have decided that I no longer wish to be an MP," he said in a statement. "I have spent all my working life in or about Westminster. And while this has been a huge privilege, I've realised I don't want to have spent all my life in frontline politics.
"I'm looking forward to completing my project at Demos. After that my hope is to contribute ideas to public service and to the Labour Party." Purnell was considered a rising star of the Labour government and a possible future leader, but he quit as Work and Pensions Secretary last June on the day of local and European elections where support for Labour fell to its lowest level for a century.
His resignation letter called for Brown to go, saying his continued leadership made a Conservative victory more likely. However, no other senior figures joined him and Brown was able to survive. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said Purnell's decision was "very sad". "I think politics and parliament will be the poorer ... but I quite understand the decision that he's taken even though personally I regret it very much," he told BBC TV.
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