--- description: The former British Prime Minister is to withdraw from parliamentary politics for the time being, triggering a byelection in his Witney seat title: David Cameron to Stand Down as a Member of Parliament image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1b9d7ef13e7ee72/6988a583cf40a8952fc44c2e/former-prime-minister-david-cameron.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # David Cameron to Wave Goodbye to U.K. Parliament  by [Dan Stewart](/author/dan-stewart/)  ## Dan Stewart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2016 2:43 PM CUT  Britain's outgoing Prime Minister, David Cameron with his wife Samantha, waves in front of number 10 Downing Street, on his last day in office as Prime Minister, in central London, on July 13, 2016. Britain's outgoing Prime Minister, David Cameron with his wife Samantha, waves in front of number 10 Downing Street, on his last day in office as Prime Minister, in central London, on July 13, 2016.Stefan Wermuth—Reuters  by [Dan Stewart](/author/dan-stewart/)  ## Dan Stewart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2016 2:43 PM CUT Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is to [give up his seat](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37342152 "undefined") in the country’s House of Commons, leaving behind parliamentary politics for the foreseeable future. Cameron, currently Conservative member of parliament for the seat of Witney in Oxfordshire, announced he would stand down on Monday. He has held the seat since 2001. Cameron announced his resignation as Prime Minister on the morning of June 24, having failed to convince the country to vote to remain in the European Union. He was succeeded by Theresa May in July. The former Prime Minister reportedly said in June that he would [remain on the back benches of the House of Commons](http://www.politico.eu/article/david-cameron-i-will-be-an-obedient-backbencher/ "undefined") — i.e. stay an MP but not seek to join May’s cabinet — saying that he would be an “obedient backbencher.” His departure will trigger a by-election for the vacant seat, an off-year contest which is often seen as a test of the strength of the government and its opposition. However, the constituency is considered a safe Conservative seat. It has only been held by the Labour Party once, in 1999, when Shaun Woodward MP switched parties from the Tories to the Labour Party, which was then in power. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37342152 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4487555/david-cameron-mp-witney-parliament/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4487555/david-cameron-mp-witney-parliament/"},"headline":"David Cameron to Wave Goodbye to U.K. Parliament","datePublished":"2016-09-12T14:43:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:32:01.897Z","description":"Former Prime Minister is leaving parliamentary politics behind","url":"https://time.com/4487555/david-cameron-mp-witney-parliament/","keywords":["United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1b9d7ef13e7ee72/6988a583cf40a8952fc44c2e/former-prime-minister-david-cameron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Stewart","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-stewart/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1b9d7ef13e7ee72/6988a583cf40a8952fc44c2e/former-prime-minister-david-cameron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Britain's outgoing Prime Minister, David Cameron,waves in front of number 10 Downing Street, in central London","caption":"Britain's outgoing Prime Minister, David Cameron with his wife Samantha, waves in front of number 10 Downing Street, on his last day in office as Prime Minister, in central London, on July 13, 2016.","creditText":"Stefan Wermuth—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4487555/david-cameron-mp-witney-parliament/","name":"David Cameron to Wave Goodbye to U.K. Parliament"}}]}] ```