Gordon Brown speaks during a press conference announce he is standing down as an MP at The Kirkcaldy Old Kirk Trust.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has confirmed he is standing down as an MP and ruled out becoming a Labour peer.
In a speech in his Kirkcaldy constituency, the 63-year-old said he would quit parliament at the general election in May.
Mr Brown played a key role in the Scottish independence referendum campaign this year, sparking speculation that he would stand for leader of Labour in Scotland – something he quickly dismissed.
He told constituents it was time for a “new person, with new ideas” to represent them.
The Labour MP has focused on charity work and his role as United Nations special envoy for global education since his resignation as prime minister in 2010.
He said: “We are not leaving Fife. It is London that I’m leaving and for the avoidance of any doubt, I’m not going back to Westminster, not to the House of Commons after the general election and not to the House of Lords.
“It is Fife where our home is and where we will be, where our children John and Fraser, who are here tonight, are happily at school and it is from Fife where I will do the new and extended work as the United Nations special envoy on global education.”
