Boris Johnson, UK prime minister had the public backing of 59 Tory MPs but had to reach 100 to proceed in the race.
This leaves the race open for former chancellor Rishi Sunak who leads nominations among Tory MPs, with 144 supporters.
In a statement, the former prime minister confirmed that he had “cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations”, but came 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”.
Mr Johnson said while he was “attracted” to support from his colleagues, he added “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament”.
On Sunday, several long-time allies of Mr Johnson, including Suella Braverman and Steve Baker, threw their support behind Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner in the race.
Daily Mail
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