WATCH: Why John Horgan is stepping down as NDP leader

John Horgan is stepping down as leader of the NDP and will not seek re-election.

The two-term NDP premier cited heath as a main driver behind the decision.

“My health is good, but my energy flags as the days go by,” Horgan, who will turn 63 this summer, told a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “I love the work. But the cancer diagnosis and the subsequent surgery and treatment was rigorous.”

He’s asked the party’s executive to select a date for a leadership convention this fall. He’ll remain in the role until then.

Horgan said he and his wife, Ellie, had been discussing what the future would hold ahead of a cabinet retreat in Vancouver this week. He said the pair were walking along a beach and watching otters play at Otter Point on Vancouver Island when he ultimately decided it was time to pass the torch.

“Watching the otters playing just offshore by the hour reminded me that doing a little bit more playing and a little bit less working is probably not a bad idea,” he said.

He called the decision “very, very difficult,” but welcomed the opportunity to exit the public realm at a comfortable moment, politically.

Rumours started to swirl about his future late last week when he appeared on a CBC radio program and was non-committal when asked about it. He said the announcement Tuesday was designed to put an end to that speculation and focus on the issues at hand.

In November, Horgan was diagnosed with throat cancer and briefly stepped away from his duties while he underwent treatment. He announced he was cancer free earlier last week.

He admits he may have stepped back into the fray a bit early in the wake of his treatment. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been in public life for 36 years, he said.

“My spouse and I felt it was time that I pass it on to another generation” he said. “I’ve talked about the need for generational change in our politics. … We need to make space for the next generation to bring forward their ideas and their energy to take on the tasks.”

The news comes just days after Horgan took the blame and put a halt to the highly controversial nearly $800-million plan to renovate and rebuild the Royal BC Museum. A poll released earlier in June by the Angus Reid Institute found nearly 70 per cent of British Columbians opposed the plan.

He said that announcement was in no way connected to his departure. Rather, he said, it was simply an acknowledgement that the plan was out of step with what British Columbians wanted.

“[The museum] is too important to be a political football, too important to be a laugh line,” he said. “I mis-stepped by thinking the public was at the same place I was.”