Boris Johnson has announced that he will not stand for the Tory leadership contest, British media reported on Monday. Boris Johnson said that despite having the support of the MPs required to run, he said “this would simply not be the right thing to do” as “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament”, BBC reported.
“Tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow,” Boris Johnson said in a statement.
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Boris Johnson said that though he was attracted by the prospect of returning to No 10, but he has decided that it is not the right thing to do.
“There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday,” Boris Johnson said.
With Boris Johnson pulling out of the race, Indian-origin Rishi Sunak has a commanding lead in the contest and could be well on course to become UK’s next prime minister.
Currently, former chancellor Rishi Sunak has 144 Tory MPs backing him while Penny Mordaunt lags behind with the public support of 25, BBC reported.
