UK foreign secretary steps down in reshuffle

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has announced he is stepping down from his post and will not stand for election as a Member of Parliament in next year’s general election in May. 

“Tonight I am standing down as Foreign Secretary after four years to serve as Leader of the House of Commons,” he announced on his official Twitter account on Tuesday. 

“From May 2015, after such a long period in politics I want to embark on many other things I have always wanted to do. 

“Renewal in politics is good, and holding office is not an end in itself. After 26 years as an MP time will be right for me to move on.” 

Prime Minister David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives, the main party in the ruling coalition, has started carrying out what is expected to be a final reshuffle of top government jobs before the election.

Cameron’s office said in a statement that the prime minister had accepted the resignation of seven ministers including Kenneth Clarke, a minister without portfolio and a veteran supporter of Britain’s EU membership.

Hague, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 1989, said he would continue to work as a special envoy on ending sexual violence.