ANKARA
Chuka Umunna, the U.K.’s shadow business secretary, has unexpectedly pulled out of the center-left Labour Party’s leadership race, saying he feels uncomfortable under the added pressure and media scrutiny.
“Since the night of our defeat last week I have been subject to the added level of pressure that comes with being a leadership candidate,” the 36-year-old English MP said in a statement on Friday. “I have not found it to be a comfortable experience.”
Ed Miliband stood down as Labour leader last Friday following his party’s defeat in the general election, saying he took "absolute and total responsibility". The Conservative Party of Prime Minister David Cameron was returned with an overall majority in parliament.
Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick tweeted: “Umunna was upset the press doorstepped not just his mother, but his girlfriend's parents and even her 102-year-old grandmother.”
“I continued to have very real concerns and worry about this bid’s impact on those close to me,” Umunna said.
Another reason he cited for his resignation was that it had all come “too soon” for him.
“I know this will come as I surprise to many but I had always wondered whether it was all too soon for me to launch this leadership bid - I fear it was,” he said.
Umunna was widely seen as a frontrunner in the leadership race and was likely the preferred candidate of the right-wing of the Labour Party.
He ended his statement saying he hoped “to play a leading role in Labour’s campaign to keep the U.K. in the EU,” referring to an in-out referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the European Union due before the end of 2017.
His resignation leaves four candidates remaining in the race: Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary; Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary; Liz Kendall, the shadow health minister; and Mary Creagh, the shadow international development secretary.
Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt is expected to announce his leadership bid in the coming days.
In the aftermath of Umunna’s resignation, a campaign was set up by Labour activists to encourage former public prosecutor Keir Starmer to run for the party leadership.
He was elected to parliament only last week, but with the frontrunner now out of the picture, the future of the Labour Party is up for grabs.
David Miliband, who was beaten by his brother Ed for the leadership of the party in 2010, has ruled himself out of the current leadership election.
He lives in New York and is the president of the International Rescue Committee charity.
Ed Miliband has said he is willing to support Labour’s next leader as a frontbench minister.
The winner of the Labour leadership contest will be announced at a special party conference on Sept. 12.
