Tommy Sheridan has announced he is "stepping aside" from the leadership of the party he founded ten years ago.

The Glasgow-born politician said he was quitting the post of co-convener of Solidarity to "make more time to concentrate on bringing down Rupert Murdoch and his News Group Newspapers empire".

Sheridan, who was unsuccessful in his bid to return to Holyrood in the May election, founded Solidarity in 2006, after a libel case he brought against the now defunct News Of The World exposed deep divisions within the Scottish Socialist Party.

A meeting of Solidarity members in Glasgow accepted Mr Sheridan's decision, with South Lanarkshire councillor Pat Lee elected to replace him as co-convener until the party's conference in October.

In a statement Mr Sheridan said: "I am not standing down, I am stepping aside.

"Tony Benn relinquished his seat in the House of Parliament in order to concentrate on politics. I am stepping aside as co-convenor to make more time to concentrate on bringing down Rupert Murdoch and his News Group Newspapers empire.

"I will clear my name and expose the lies told about me in court and in News Group Newspapers. I will not rest until News Group Newspapers is exposed as a thoroughly criminal organisation."

Mr Sheridan won £200,000 after his legal action against the News Of The World in 2006, but in 2011 he was sentenced to three years in jail after being convicted of lying during the libel case. He was released from prison in 2012 after spending a year behind bars.

Mr Sheridan will continued to serve as a regional organiser for Solidarity in Glasgow and will retain his seat on the party's executive committee.

Solidarity co-convener Rosemary Byrne continues in her role.