Shaun Wright has resigned as South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, three weeks after a damning report revealing the scale of child sex abuse in Rotherham led to widespread calls for him to quit, including from the home secretary.

Wright, who was in charge of children's services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2010, said in a statement that his role as commissioner had attracted so much public and media attention that it was "detracting from the important issue – the 1,400 victims outlined in the report".

He said: "With this in mind, I feel it is now right to step down from the position of police and crime commissioner for South Yorkshire, for the sake of those victims, for the sake of the public of South Yorkshire and to ensure that the important issues outlined in the report about tackling child sexual exploitation can be discussed and considered in full without distraction."

The home secretary, Theresa May, welcomed his decision. "I am pleased that Shaun Wright has heeded the calls from his local community for him to resign. It is right that where people failed in their duty they should take responsibility.

"The police and local council failed the victims of these awful crimes and failed the people of Rotherham.

"Police and crime commissioners are accountable to their local electorate. It is now for the people of South Yorkshire to elect someone who can provide local leadership, ensure the lessons of these dreadful cases are applied, and make sure the victims get the justice they deserve."

May's call for Wright to resign had been echoed by the leaders of all three main political parties.

A woman whose 17-year-old daughter alleges she was groomed and raped in Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster, said Wright's delay in resigning was an indication of his arrogance and indifference: "I'm glad he's done it and I hope he's the first in a long line. We need to get the rest of them out and then we'll know that children in Rotherham are safe."

Wright was suspended from the Labour party after he refused to heed a call to quit from the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, in the immediate aftermath of the report by Professor Alexis Jay. His resignation followed public anger and a vote of no confidence last week by his own police and crime scrutiny panel.

The resignation will trigger a byelection for the crime commissioner role. His refusal to go was fuelling demands to reform the system of police commissioner appointments, with May agreeing it was time to look at introducing a power of recall.

Labour is expected to detail its alternative to crime commissioners next week. Cooper said the lack of any swift mechanism to hold individuals to account even when they had lost public confidence was a significant problem with the government's model. She said Wright's position had been untenable and also demonstrated the need to make urgent progress on the national child abuse inquiry and immediate reforms to strengthen child protection laws.

Keith Vaz, chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, who last week joined calls for Wright's resignation after the commissioner gave "unconvincing" evidence, said he hoped Rotherham's current director of children's services, Joyce Thacker, would follow the committee's advice and step down as well. Vaz had urged May to introduce emergency legislation to force Wright to resign.

In his statement, Wright said that protecting vulnerable people, and particularly victims of child sexual exploitation, had been his top priority as commissioner, and that much progress had been made over the past two years.

"My intention had always been to continue my work with South Yorkshire police and partners in making all the necessary changes and improvements required to safeguard and support the victims of these horrific crimes, and indeed to protect further potential victims through preventative actions.

"On resigning, I therefore truly wish the force all the very best in continuing the journey of positive transformational change of those essential services which protect and support our most vulnerable people."

The legislation on police commissioner byelections requires the poll to be held within 35 working days of a vacancy being notified. It could take place as early as 16 October. The cost is likely to fall short of the £3.7m spent on the West Midlands commissioner byelection in August which saw a turnout of just 10%.

The former home secretary, David Blunkett, who is a Sheffield MP, quickly ruled himself out as a possible candidate after a neighbouring Labour MP, John Mann, urged him to stand.