Boris Johnson withdraws from the Tory leadership race as he fails to get the backing of the party and get to the threshold of 100 MPs to stand in the Tory leadership race.
With the news breaking the pound strengthened against the dollar in the Eastern markets as they believe in the former Chancellor’s vision for the economy.
Boris Johnson withdraws from the Tory leadership race
Former PM Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the race to replace Liz Truss, maintaining he had enough support but has decided it is not the right thing to do.
He struggled to make a deal, especially with Penny Mordaunt to get her to support him, in return for a top position in his cabinet.
Rishi Sunak is favourite to be PM, has paid tribute to Johnson, saying “we will always be grateful” for his actions during the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Rishi Sunak is favourite
The former chancellor has already cleared the threshold of 100 MPs, but a source in his campaign tells the WTX News he is not “taking anything for granted”.
The former PM claims he “cleared the high hurdle” of nominations with 102 backers, although only 57 MPs did so publicly.
He says he believes he would have been “well placed” to deliver a victory in the next general election but “this is not the right time”.
Penny Mordaunt entered the race on Friday but is a way off securing 100 backers. The deadline for her to do so is 14:00 on Monday.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has reiterated his call for a general election, adding “any incoming government will have to pick up the mess”.
Tory leadership race
Where will Boris Johnson’s nominations go now?
The threshold to be on the ballot is the backing of 100 MPs, and there are a total of 357 Conservative MPs in Parliament.
The candidates cannot nominate themselves, so taking away the two potential leaders leaves 355.
According to our tally:
- 155 MPs are backing Sunak
- 25 are backing Mordaunt
There are 54 who backed Johnson but haven’t yet publicly switched support.
Who’s switched camps so far?
As Boris Johnson withdraws from the Tory leadership race, here are the MPs who first backed Boris Johnson but are now supporting Rishi Sunak:
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has endorsed Rishi Sunak to be Britain’s next prime minister, in a piece in the Telegraph, comparing him to Winston Churchill in his willingness to speak the truth.
‘In the summer, Rishi warned that unfunded tax cuts would not be sustainable. He refused to tell people what they wanted to hear, even though he knew that could cost him the chance to be prime minister. Sadly, he has been proved right.‘
Nadhim Zahawi, MP, said: “Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty.”
David Morris and Shailesh Vara also joined the former Chancellors’ camp, putting him firmly in pole position.
So far only one Conservative MPO has switched alleigence from Borish Johnson to Penny Mordaunt. Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, said:
“I am deeply disappointed that Boris has chosen not to stand. I shall now nominate [Penny Mordaunt] to let the members of our great party decide who should be our leader and next prime minister.”
Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield
It is being highly speculated that Penny Mordaunt will concede the race and throw in the towel, firmly putting Rishi Sunak is favourite – as the new Prime Minister of the UK.
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