Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson pulled out of the race to become Britain’s next leader on Sunday, claiming he had enough legislative backing to go to the next round but considerably less than front-runner former finance minister Rishi Sunak.
Johnson claimed in a statement that “there is a very strong probability” that he would win the election with support from Conservative Party members and that “I might in fact be back in Downing Street on Friday.”
“But over the last several days, I have regrettably come to the terrible realization that doing this would be morally incorrect. Without a cohesive party in parliament, it is impossible to successfully rule.”
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Johnson, who never officially declared his intention to run for office again, spent the weekend attempting to win over Conservative legislators. On Sunday, he claimed to have secured the backing of 102 of them.
He needed 100 votes by Monday to go to the next round when he would have faced off against Sunak in front of the Conservative Party’s 170,000 members.
According to Sky News, Sunak, whose resignation as finance minister in July contributed to Johnson’s downfall, passed the need of 100 parliamentarians and secured 142 declared supporters on Sunday.
Unless Penny Mordaunt receives the required 100 votes to necessitate a run-off vote among party members, he will be elected leader of the Conservative Party and become prime minister on Monday. On Sunday, she had 24 formally announced supporters.