Priti Patel has decided against running to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The Home Secretary left it late to make her decision after days of speculation that she was going to run.
It means there are now 10 of her colleagues who have put their names forward to replace Boris Johnson in No10 Downing Street.
Patel's announcement comes after Foreign Secretary Liz Truss revealed in a newspaper article on Monday that she was putting her name forward.
READ MORE: Tory leadership candidates to refuse Scottish independence referendum for next 10 years
With 10 Tory MPs now in the race the 1922 backbench committee will look to slim down the number of candidates as soon as possible.
In a statement, Patel said: "I am grateful for the encouragement and support colleagues and party members have offered me in recent days in suggesting that I enter the contest for the leadership of the Conservative party. I will not be putting my name forward for the ballot of MPs.
"As home secretary I have always put the security and safety of our country and the national interest first and my focus is to continue working to get more police on our streets, support our amazing security services to keep our country safe and control our borders
"As a lifelong and committed Conservative, I will always make the case for freedom, enterprise and opportunity and work with colleagues to deliver these values in government.
"Like all Conservative MPs and party members, I will be listening to cases being put forward by the candidates standing for the leadership of the party and trust the contest will be conducted in a good spirit that brings our party together."
Who is running to become Tory party leader?
- Rishi Sunak
- Jeremy Hunt
- Sajid Javid
- Liz Truss
- Nadhim Zahawi
- Tom Tugendhat
- Kemi Badenoch
- Rehman Chishti
- Suella Braverman
- Penny Mordaunt
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