Brooks Newmark is to stand down as an Conservative MP for Braintree after the General Election next year in the wake of the tabloid sex sting scandal.
The 56-year-old resigned from his job as minister of civil society the day before the Sunday Mirror exposed his explicit messages he exchanged with an undercover male reporter, who was posing as female Tory PR worker 'Sophie Wittams'.
Dad-of-five Mr Newmark previously told the Chronicle he hoped to stay on as MP, but in a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron today, has put his change of heart down to 'media intrusion' and the effect on his family.
He said: "I have therefore decided to stand down at the general election.
"I again appeal to the media to respect my family's privacy and to give me a chance to try to heal the hurt I have caused them.
"I have no one to blame but myself and take full responsibility for my own actions."
Mr Newmark resigned the day before the Conservative party conference, and came on the same day Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless announced his defection to UKIP.
But in the week following his resignation, the actions of the Sunday Mirror also came under the spotlight.
Its editor-in-chief, Lloyd Embley, apologised to the Swedish model whose pictures were used in the undercover sting but defended the story on the grounds of public interest.
Fellow Tory MPs suggested IPSO, the press standards watchdog, take a close look at the actions of the reporter, with one also stating he would write to the police.
