Rishi Sunak is poised to become the British prime minister on Monday following Boris Johnson’s sensational exit from the Conservative Party leadership race on Sunday night.
In a statement released just before 9pm, the former prime minister said it would not have been the right thing to do to continue his leadership campaign as it would not help to heal the divisions within the party.
“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,” he said.
Mr Johnson said he had reached out to Mr Sunak and to the other contestant Penny Mordaunt over the weekend but without success.
“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,” he said. “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
Mr Sunak formally declared his bid to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister on Sunday after easily clearing the hurdle of endorsement from 100 MPs. He looked set to win the backing of the majority of the 357 strong parliamentary party.
Mr Johnson, with 60 public pledges, and Ms Mordaunt, with 24, were both struggling to reach the threshold required, which led to claims his campaign was beginning to falter. However, in his statement, Mr Johnson insisted he would have gathered the numbers required. “I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and seconder, and I could put my nomination,” he said.
He also claimed he would have had a “very good chance” of success if the party’s 150,000 members voted on Friday, a process that would have been triggered had there been more than one candidate with 100 nominations.
The withdrawal of Mr Johnson now means that the election of Mr Sunak will become a coronation, unless Ms Mordaunt succeeds in attracting dozens of pledges by 2pm on Monday.
Mr Sunak (41), who is of Indian heritage, will be the youngest prime minister of the United Kingdom for 300 years and will be the first person of colour, and of the Hindu religion, to occupy the office.
His campaign was bolstered by pledges of support from high-profile figures on the right of the party who might have expected to side with Mr Johnson in the past. They include international trade minister Kemi Badenoch; former home secretary Suella Braverman; and prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker, who is Northern Ireland minister.
Mr Baker said an investigation into claims Mr Johnson misled parliament over parties held at 10 Downing Street during lockdown could result in him being stripped of his seat in the commons.
Several prominent Tory figures who have supported Mr Johnson in the past, including former Brexit secretary, Lord David Frost, and former foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, had urged him not to stand, arguing that he is the wrong person to lead the country at a time of grave economic challenge for Britain.
Ms Braverman, one of Mr Johnson’s closest allies in government, wrote on Sunday: “His resignation in July was a loss for our country. But we are in dire straits now. We need unity, stability and efficiency. Rishi (Sunak) is the only candidate that fits (that) bill.”
Government Buildings in Dublin and the parties in Northern Ireland are closely monitoring the leadership race. The power vacuum has added to the likelihood that Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions will not be restored by Friday’s looming deadline to avoid fresh Assembly elections before Christmas.
