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Theresa May

Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

Withdrawal of a former British Prime Minister: Theresa May no longer wants to run for a parliamentary mandate in the parliamentary elections due in January 2025 at the latest.

The conservative politician announced this on Friday via short message service X.

She had been a member of the House of Commons for the Tories since 1997.

The 67-year-old was Prime Minister of her country from 2016 to 2019.

She took over the office from her party colleague David Cameron after the British vote for Brexit.

However, her most important political project, to lead Great Britain with an exit agreement from the European Union, failed in three votes due to resistance from the House of Commons.

Only her successor Boris Johnson managed to carry out Brexit in an orderly manner with a modified agreement.

May was only the second woman to head the government in London after Margaret Thatcher (1979 to 1990).

Since her resignation as head of government, May has sat as an ordinary MP on the backbenches of the Conservative government party and was considered a sharp critic of Johnson, including his handling of the corona pandemic.

May wrote in her statement that her social commitment, such as against modern slavery and human trafficking, has recently taken up increasing time.

"Therefore, after careful consideration and consideration, I realized that I can no longer continue to do my work as an MP in a way that I think is right and that my voters deserve." But she still wants the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the government support and believe that an election victory for the Conservatives is still possible.

In polls, however, the Tories are far behind the opposition Labor Party.

May's decision in 2017 to call an early parliamentary election proved to be particularly consequential for her term in office.

The Conservatives emerged as the strongest party, but lost their majority.

From then on, May led a minority government with the toleration of the Northern Irish Protestant party DUP.

These and the radical Brexit supporters in their own party made it impossible to get their Brexit deal with the EU through the House of Commons.

May was also mocked in Britain as "Maybot", a mixture of her name and the English word for robot, because of her stiff demeanor and lack of charisma.

She took it partly with humor.

What was remembered was an appearance at the Conservative party conference in 2018, when she clumsily stalked onto the stage to the song “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.

dop/dpa