Support for Mordaunt hangs around 25 – well below reaching the threshold of 100 MP backers needed by 14:00
More Tory big beats including Boris loyalist Priti Patel put their name in the long list of supporters to propel Rishi Sunak to N0 10.
The former chancellor’s only remaining rival in the contest is House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. The former prime minister and Tory members’ favourite Boris Johnson dramatically pulled out of the race to be the next Tory leader on Sunday evening. He claimed the support of 102 MPs to stand but said it would not be “the right thing to do.”
Sunak praised Johnson, saying “we will always be grateful” for his actions during the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Support for Mordaunt hangs around 25 – well below reaching the threshold of 100 MP backers needed by 14:00.
“ In the last few days I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative Party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in Parliament,” said Mr Johnson in a late night message on Sunday. “I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.
“In the last few days I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative Party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in Parliament. I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.
“A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the Government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country. I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and 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.
“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. But in the course of the last days 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.
“And though I have reached out to both Rishi (Sunak) and Penny (Mordaunt) – 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. 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. “I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
