Maxime Verhagen, a minister and MP for the Christian Democrats since 1994, will leave parliament at the next general election, he told a television talk show on Wednesday.

Verhagen was a member of the European parliament for five years before making the move to The Hague. Currently economic affairs minister, he was foreign minister in the previous administration.
Verhagen refused to rule out a ministerial position in the future, but said he would take the summer to think about things. He has been unofficial party leader since June 2010 but has said he is not interested in leading the CDA campaign ahead of the September vote.