Nancy Pelosi, the first woman in Speaker’s office, to stand down after 40 years in US Congress

Nancy Pelosi, the first woman in the Speaker’s office, has announced her retirement from American politics after a nearly 40-year career.

The 85-year-old, who has represented San Francisco since 1987, revealed her decision two days after Californian voters overwhelmingly approved “Proposition 50”, a state redistricting effort aimed at flipping five House seats to Democrats in the midterm elections next year.

“I will not be seeking re-election to Congress,” Pelosi said in a video address to voters.

“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.

“My message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power,” she said. “We have made history. We have made progress. We have always led the way.”

“And now we must continue to do so by remaining full participants in our democracy and fighting for the American ideals we hold dear.”

She served as the 52nd Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, and again from 2019 to 2023, and was the first woman elected to the role.

She was also the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, heading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023.

During her second tenure as Speaker, the House twice impeached Donald Trump – in December 2019, and January 2021 – though the Senate acquitted him both times.

And in February 2020, during President Trump’s State of the Union address, she famously tore up her official copy of it, arguing “it was such a dirty speech”.

An architect of the Affordable Care Act, Mrs Pelosi has also been credited with quietly persuading Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.

Now her political contemporaries have paid tribute.

Former President Joe Biden said America “will always be grateful” to her.

He posted on X: “I often said Nancy Pelosi was the best Speaker of the House in American history – it’s why I awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“When I was President, we worked together to grow our Economy, create millions of jobs, and make historic investments in our nation’s future.”

California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom, said she “inspired generations” and “set the standard for what public service should be”.

While party colleague, Senator Adam Schiff, who also represents California, called her “the greatest Speaker in American history” and highlighted her “tenacity, intellect, strategic acumen and fierce advocacy”.

And Representative Don Beyer of Virginia, another Democrat, said she was “a major figure in American history”, a “barrier breaker”, and “one of our most brilliant and accomplished leaders”.

First elected in 1987, she came into politics later in life, and has long resisted calls to step aside, turning questions about her future into spirited rebuttals.

But she’s faced new challenges in recent years and her decision to step down is not fully unexpected.

Last year she fractured her hip when she fell during a European trip, and was rushed to a military hospital for surgery.

And in 2022, her husband Paul Pelosi was gravely injured by a home intruder who beat him over the head with a hammer and demanded to know “Where is Nancy?”

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Nonetheless, she’s maintained a rigorous political schedule of public events and party fundraisers.

Now eyes will turn to the question of her successor, both at home in San Francisco, and in the US Congress where she plays a behind-the-scenes leadership role.

She’s already faced a potential primary challenge from Saikat Chakrabarti, a left-wing newcomer who played a part in the rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – another rising star in the progressive firmament.