George Osborne quits as MP: 'I am stepping down from the House of Commons - for now'
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy George Osborne has announced he is quitting as an MP “for now”, just weeks after being named as the new editor of the London Evening Standard. Tatton Conservatives member Tony Dean said: “The general feeling will be that he's fallen on his sword a bit, but he's done the right thing in not seeking re-election.” Less than two years after Mr Osborne was first elected in 2001 he became an opposition whip and, later, a shadow Treasury minister. Evgeny Lebedev, who has owned the free daily Standard for eight years, said critics should “wait to see a paper before judging” Mr Osborne's recruitment to the editor's chair, adding that he would provide a “more effective opposition to the Government than the current Labour Party”. Critics from both Labour and the Conservatives had said the hiring raised fresh questions over existing parliamentary systems for preventing conflicts of interest – and had suggested Mr Osborne could not continue as Tatton MP.
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