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Gordon Brown at #UpForSchool youth rally in London

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown has announced that he will be standing down from political life and concentrating on his work as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education.

Mr Brown said in a speech in Scotland that he will not run as a Member of Parliament in the UK General Election in May.

The former leader of the Labour Party has been an MP for an incredible 32 years. He said he and wife Sarah would strive to ensure that every child around the world was able to go to school.

Mr Brown was appointed to his role in 2012 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Sarah is co-founder of A World at School, Executive Chair of the and President of the children�鶹APP�s charity .

He added: �鶹APP�It is she who is leading our work for children�鶹APP�s rights through �鶹APP and A World at School, so that we achieve what seems simple but is a revolutionary idea. That this generation can be free of child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, discrimination against girls �鶹APP� that every single child in the world has the right to go to school.�鶹APP�

In recent weeks, Mr Brown delivered passionate speeches at youth rallies in New York and London. At the UK event on November 19, he said that �鶹APP�a freedom fight is underway�鶹APP� �鶹APP� a struggle led by young people across the world. 

Gordon Brown with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

He added: �鶹APP�People will look back and say, in this generation in 2014, a historic civil rights struggle for the rights of young people is underway.�鶹APP� He told the school students in the room: �鶹APP�We must stand up and fight. We need you to work with us.�鶹APP�

Through the Global Business Coalition, Gordon and Sarah work with corporate leaders who are committed to helping deliver the promise of universal education.

He said he would continue to make Fife his home, adding: �鶹APP�It�鶹APP�s from Fife where I will do the new and extended work as the United Nations Special Envoy on Global Education.�鶹APP�

�鶹APP�I still hold to the belief of politics as public service. I I still hold to the belief in something bigger than ourselves�鶹APP� Gordon Brown

�鶹APP� Gordon & Sarah Brown (@OfficeGSBrown)

Mr Brown made his decision not to run in the 2015 elections after playing a key role in the Scottish independence referendum campaign. His late intervention in the debate was widely credited with helping the pro-UK Better Together campaign to victory in September.

He was first elected as a Labour MP in 1983. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer �鶹APP� Britain�鶹APP�s minister of finance �鶹APP� from 1997 to 2007 and then became prime minister from 2007 to 2010. At the last election, he won the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat by more than 23,000 votes.