Former Victorian National party leader Peter Ryan announces retirement

Former deputy premier and leader of the Victorian National party Peter Ryan is retiring from politics.

The long-serving Gippsland South MP led the Nationals from 1999 to 2014, stepping down when the Liberal National coalition lost government.

Mr Ryan said he made his decision after careful consideration over Christmas and the New Year and discussing the matter with his wife Trisha and their children Sarah, James and Julian.

Now was the best time to stand down and give his replacement in Gippsland a chance to succeed, he told reporters.

Mr Ryan said he had truly believed the coalition would win the November 2014 election.

"In my defence, I said the same in 2010 and I was right and (the media) were wrong. So we're one all."

Mr Ryan believes the voters of Gippsland South need someone new to represent them.

"I don't want to sit up here like a crow on a fence for four years," he said.

"Gippsland South is a wonderful electorate with many glorious natural attributes, as well as a diverse and dynamic economic base.

"It is the people of the region who are its heartbeat.

"I have come to know them well over more than two decades of representing them in the Parliament and I wish them well for the future," he said in a statement.