Democratic Nancy Pelosi, the trailblazing first female speaker of the US House of Representatives, made the announcement on Thursday that she will not run for re-election to her position in the congressional leadership and will step down as party leader when Republicans take control of the chamber in January.

Speaking on the House floor, Pelosi said that she would continue to be a member of Congress and finish the term to which she had just been elected.

The 14-minute speech was interspersed by bouts of applause as Pelosi said, “With great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress.”

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Pelosi continued, “For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Congress that I so deeply respect. And I am grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility.”

A day before, news organisations had predicted that following the midterm elections, Democrats would lose their House majority to the Republicans.

Pelosi, 82, has kept her future plans private in the aftermath of the midterm elections, in which Democrats outperformed forecasts across the board. According to projections from NBC News, Republicans will gain a narrow lead in the House, contrary to their expectations that a "red wave" would give them huge majority in Congress.

Pelosi has also stated that her decision whether to continue in leadership would be influenced by her husband, Paul Pelosi, who was recently the victim of a hammer-wielding home intruder attack.

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The front-runner to be speaker of the House in the next Congress is the current House Minority Leader, Republican Kevin McCarthy of California. McCarthy won a party vote on Tuesday to become the Republican nominee for speaker, but he fell short of the 218 votes he would require when the whole House votes on its leadership in early January.

Uncertainty exists as to how the transition in House leadership will affect the Democrats' top tier. House Majority Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, worked closely with Pelosi for many years, but the 83-year-old isn't guaranteed to head the party's minority since some Democrats are searching for fresher, younger faces to bring in a new era of leadership.

Pelosi, who was elected to Congress in 1987, rose to the position of House Minority Whip after the 2002 midterms, making her the highest-ranking woman in the history of the chamber. She became House minority leader in 2003 and was elected Speaker of the House in 2006 when Democrats managed to pass the majority in the House.

Pelosi presided over a number of significant political upheavals and turning points during her two terms as speaker, including two attempts to oust then-President Donald Trump from office.

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