GEORGE Osborne has said he may have continued as an MP had June’s snap election not been called.

Mr Osborne, who took the Tatton seat in 2001, announced last Wednesday that he would not be standing for re-election as he looks to focus on other ventures.

Despite calls for him to resign surfacing as soon as he was appointed editor of the London Evening Standard – a role he takes up on the day parliament dissolves – Mr Osborne has exclusively told the Guardian that he had ambitions to prove himself to his constituents.

“I thought I would just wait and see,” he said.

“If I could make it work, which I thought I could, and there was no reason why I couldn’t, then 2020 was the best time to make that decision.

“If I felt hat being an MP was stopping me moving on in my life I don’t think I would be a very good MP. Having stopped being Chancellor I wanted new challenges and these are the new opportunities that came up.

“I was pretty confident I could do both. In many ways I knew I had to prove to people over a couple of years I could do it, and a General Election is in many ways the most difficult environment in which to prove it.

“You have got to be campaigning on the streets you have got to be seen, visible – you can’t just ask for people’s votes in absentia.

“It forced me to make a choice, and in my career I haven’t really ducked decisions whether people agreed with them or not.”

The 45-year-old, who voted to force a General Election last week, also refuted accusations that he had been distant from the constituency during his time as MP, noting that his work behind the scenes had pushed on projects such as the A556 link road, Knutsford Studio Academy and Alderley Edge bypass.

He said: “The bit that I never loved most was standing on ceremony and just being there because you are an MP. It was the rolling up my sleeves, solving problems and finding solutions that I most enjoyed.

“When you have been an MP for almost two decades you can look around and think ‘I helped achieve that’ – the new airport link road in Handforth, the direct train service to Wilmslow.

“Working with other people in each case, they are the things I found most satisfying rather than just kissing babies.”

“[Representing Tatton] has changed my perspective on the country. I was born in central London and I grew up with this idea that if it didn’t happen in the circle line it didn’t happen at all in Britain.

“It did me the world of good to represent a north west constituency and it changed my perspective and gave the idea and inspiration for Northern Powerhouse which is one of the things I am most proud of and will continue fighting for.

“I woke up on Thursday morning and felt I had absolutely make the right decision. I feel very good and calm about it.

“Whoever comes after me, I can tell them it’s a fantastic place to represent in parliament and that the day they get elected will be one of the greatest days of their life.”