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Former Liberal cabinet minister Rich Coleman says he won’t run for re-election in 2021 and intends to retire from politics.

The MLA for Langley East made the announcement Saturday morning. Coleman was first elected in 1996 and went on to hold various cabinet roles, including minister of housing, energy and mines, and public safety as well as solicitor general.

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Coleman said he looks forward to no longer hearing the question: “So are you going to run again?”

He said he remains fully committed to his constituents for the remainder of his sixth term as MLA but wanted to give the Liberals the opportunity to make plans for the riding before the next provincial election.

“Nobody asked me, nobody pushed me,” he said.“I spent five years in opposition and 16 years in government, then I did the interim leader thing when Christy (Clark, the former premier) left to sort of rebuild this thing.

“You have a new leader in Andrew (Wilkinson) and he’s doing a good job and I thought, well, you know, I can’t see myself running for a seventh term.”