2010 File Photo: Then British PM Gordon Brown leaving 10 Downing Street in London (AFP Photo)
Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown, who waited patiently for the top job only to be voted out after three years, said Monday he was stepping down from parliament after three decades.
The 63-year-old, who was ousted in 2010, had briefly returned to the political spotlight this year to help snatch victory for the "No" camp in Scotland's historic independence referendum.
But he confirmed Monday he would not be standing again in next May's general election as a lawmaker for the centre-left Labour party, bringing the curtain down on his stormy Westminster career.
"I'm in no doubt it's the right thing to do," he said in an address in his constituency in Kirkcaldy in Scotland, speaking in the same church where his father was a minister.
Brown said he would not be returning to the Westminster parliament in any capacity, but would work as the United Nations special envoy for global education from Fife in Scotland, a position he has held since 2012.
Brown will be remembered as one of Britain's shortest-serving prime ministers -- only three residents of 10 Downing Street since 1900 were in power for less time.