The Speaker of the American House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, who's announced that he is stepping down from the post, has said he will also be resigning as a congressman.

He's being blamed for the Republican Party's poor showing in the mid-term elections for Congress, and for what some see as its pre-occupation with the scandal involving President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

Announcing his resignation as speaker, Mr Gingrich said there was bitterness within the Republican Party, and called on it to choose a successor able to reconcile its divisions.

There are said to be four possible contenders