Boris Johnson has pulled out of the Conservative management race.
Mr Johnson had the general public backing of 59 Tory MPs however needed to attain 100 to proceed within the race.
This leaves the race open for former chancellor Rishi Sunak who leads nominations amongst Tory MPs, with 144 supporters.
In a press release, the previous prime minister confirmed that he had “cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations”, however got here to the conclusion that “this is simply not the right time”.
He added: “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”.
On Sunday, a number of long-time allies of Mr Johnson, together with Suella Braverman and Steve Baker, threw their assist behind Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner within the race.
Mr Baker, the previous head of backbench Brexiteers, warned {that a} potential comeback by Mr Johnson can be a “guaranteed disaster”.
Mr Johnson flew again from a vacation within the Caribbean on Saturday and didn’t formally announce his candidacy within the race.
He did obtain the backing of Tory MPs together with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Nadhim Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Source: information.sky.com”