Six years after being elected premier of Nova Scotia, John Hamm announced Thursday he is retiring to allow for "fresh leadership."

Hamm, 67, said he will step aside as soon as a successor for the provincial Conservatives is elected at a leadership convention. That could come in a few months time.

"I've done a lot of thinking, and as I said earlier: it's time," Hamm told a news conference in Halifax.

"While I'm comfortable in my job today, and maybe I would be tomorrow, looking four or five years ahead, I began to say to myself, 'I have to be realistic. It's time for fresh leadership'."

Hamm said he will continue to serve in his riding of Pictou Centre.

According to his closest advisors, Hamm had been considering retirement since early September.

His legacy will include an $830-million offshore revenue sharing agreement, signed with the federal government in January.

Hamm will also be remembered for the fiscal plan that he put into place in Nova Scotia. The province's deficit has been eliminated, and on Wednesday the finance department posted a $165-million surplus for the 2004-2005 budget year.

"As premier, I am proud of our record,'' Hamm said.

Unlike many of his predecessors, the family doctor is leaving office without a cloud of controversy hanging over his head.

Liberals Russell MacLellan and Gerald Regan, and Conservative Donald Cameron and were all voted out of office.

Hamm took over the provincial Progressive Conservative Party in October 1995, as the taint of scandals under the former government of John Buchanan hung overhead.

But Hamm grew into the job, and in 1998, his party won 14 seats, holding the balance of power in a minority government where the Liberal and NDP parties held 19 seats each.

In July, 1999, Hamm led the Conservatives to a majority victory, winning 29 of 52 seats after his party defeated the government on a budget vote the previous spring.

The Conservatives were returned to power in 2003 in a minority position, following the controversial closure of Crown-owned Sydney Steel and a bitter strike involving nurses.

"We kept our shoulder to the wheel and our eye on the ball. And to the best of our abilities, we kept mostly to our promises, kept mostly to our time lines and almost always to our dollar commitments," said Hamm.

There are a number of potential successors from within Hamm's own cabinet including Justice Minister Michael Baker and Energy Minister Cecil Clark.

As well one of the members of Hamm's inner circle, Jane Purves, who was defeated in the last election, is thought to be a strong candidate.

Born April, 8, 1938, Hamm, graduated from the University of King's College. He worked as a family doctor in his hometown of New Glasgow and was the president of the Nova Scotia Medical Society before entering politics.