Gordon Brown to stay on as MP, Sarah tells Twitter followers
Gordon Brown will remain on Labour backbenches and has no plans to step down as MP, wife Sarah tweets
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 12, May 2010 06:14
By Matthew Champion.
Gordon Brown will remain on the Labour backbenches in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat-led Commons, his wife Sarah suggested on Wednesday.
Mr Brown called time on 13 years of Labour government yesterday when he resigned as prime minister and leader of his party, allowing the Tories and Lib Dems to take power in a coalition government.
After leaving Downing St for the final time as prime minister with the words "thank you and goodbye" and hand-in-hand with Mrs Brown and their two children James and Fraser, Mr Brown returned to his constituency in Scotland.
With Labour consistently trailing in the polls for the last two and a half years, Mr Brown has repeatedly previously been asked what he would do in the event of a loss at the general election; usually dodging the question but hinting at a desire to do charity work.
It was widely expected that Mr Brown would stand down as an MP immediately after resigning, as his predecessor Tony Blair did in 2007, but Mrs Brown, writing on the micro-blogging website Twitter, suggested otherwise.
Responding to a query from one of her 1.1 million-plus followers she said: "Gordon is still happily the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (he resigned yesterday as party leader not as member of parliament)."
After John Major lost the 1997 general election he remained as an MP until the next election, with most former prime ministers going on to become senior if low-profile figures on the backbenches.