SPEAKER OF THE House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has said she will not seek a leadership position in the new US Congress, making way for a new generation of leaders after Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans in the midterm elections.

Pelosi announced in a spirited speech on the House floor that she will step aside after leading Democrats for nearly 20 years and in the aftermath of the brutal attack on her husband Paul last month in their San Francisco home.

The California Democrat, who rose to become the nation’s first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel, said she would remain in Congress as the representative from San Francisco, a position she has held for 35 years, when the new Congress convenes in January.

“Now we must move boldly into the future,” Pelosi said.

“I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” she said.

“For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect.”

Pelosi received a standing ovation after her remarks, and members one by one went up to offer her hugs and well wishes.

It is an unusual choice for a party leader to stay on after withdrawing from congressional leadership but one befitting of Pelosi, who has long defied convention in pursuing power in Washington.

Pelosi noted in a statement after The Associated Press called control of the chamber that, in the next Congress, House Democrats will have “strong leverage over a scant Republican majority”.

Democrats cheered Pelosi as she arrived in the chamber at noon.

On short notice, legislators filled the House, at least on the Democratic side, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined.

The Speaker’s Gallery filled with Pelosi staff and guests. Some Republicans, including some newly elected members, also attended.

The first woman to become speaker, and the only person in decades to be twice elected to the role, she has led Democrats through consequential moments, including passage of the Affordable Care Act with President Barack Obama and the impeachments of President Donald Trump.

By announcing her decision, Pelosi could launch a domino effect in House Democratic leadership ahead of internal party elections next month as Democrats reorganise as the minority party for the new Congress.

Pelosi’s leadership team, with Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, has long moved as a triumvirate. Hoyer and Clyburn are also making decisions about their futures.

All now in their 80s, the three House Democratic leaders have faced restless colleagues eager for them to step aside and allow a new generation to take charge.

Democratic Representatives Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California have similarly moved as a trio, all working towards becoming the next generation of leaders. Jeffries could make history if he enters the race to become the nation’s first black speaker of the House.

First elected in 1987, Pelosi has been a pivotal figure in American politics, long ridiculed by Republicans as a San Francisco liberal while steadily rising as a skilled legislator and fundraising powerhouse.

Pelosi first became speaker in 2007, saying she had cracked the “marble ceiling”, after Democrats swept to power in the 2006 midterm elections in a backlash to then-president George W Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.