Boris Johnson has confirmed that he will not run to become the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister.
The former PM said that despite having the support of the MPs required to run, he had come to the conclusion that “this would simply not be the right thing to do” as “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”.
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In a statement, he insisted he had secured the 100 nominations needed to get onto the ballot paper – and that if he stood there was a “very good chance” he would be back in Downing Street by the end of the week.
He went on: “But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament.
“And though I have reached out to both Rishi and Penny – because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest – we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this.
“Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.”
Mr Johnson had gained the backing of Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Nadhim Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster before announcing he would not be standing.
Mr Zahawi said the ex-prime minister “got the big calls right” and argued “Britain needs him back”.
He tweeted: “When I was chancellor, I saw a preview of what Boris 2.0 would look like. He was contrite and honest about his mistakes. He’d learned from those mistakes how he could run No 10 and the country better.”
Mr Johnson's announcement comes after Rishi Sunak confirmed his bid to replace Liz Truss as Prime Minister earlier today. The former chancellor already has more than 140 MPs publicly backing him, according to some reports, meaning his place on the ballot paper should be secure.
Announcing his candidacy on social media, Mr Sunak said he had a “track record of delivery” and a clear plan to steer the economy through “the toughest of times”.
“There will be integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level of the government I lead and I will work day in and day out to get the job done,” he said.
He is the second contender formally to declare he is standing after Penny Mordaunt declared she was entering the Tory leadership race.
Under the leadership rules, candidates have until 2pm on Monday to get the necessary nominations.
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