Boris Johnson has pulled out of the Tory leadership contest – despite never confirming he was running.

The former Prime Minister has said that despite having the support of the MPs required to run, he had come to the conclusion ‘this would simply not be the right thing to do’ as ‘you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament’.

He said: ‘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.’

 Liz Truss resigns: What happens next?

Liz Truss has stepped down as Conservative Party leader and UK Prime Minister after just 44 days. So what happens next?

– Liz Truss’ speech in full after resigning as Prime Minister

– Will the new Prime Minister be elected by the public?

– Rishi Sunak officially enters race to be next Prime Minister

– Top Tory says Boris returning to power is ‘guaranteed disaster’

Read the latest Liz Truss news on Metro.co.uk’s dedicated page.

Boris Johnson said that due to the failure to reach a deal with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, ‘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,’ the former prime minister said.

This now means that Rishi Sunak is the only contestant in the leadership race that so far has more than 100 nominations.

It is now far more likely that rather than having a two-horse race, unless all of the Boris supporters decide to move across to Penny Mordaunt, that Sunak could become the new PM tomorrow.

It could mean that Rishi Sunak will be announced as Prime Minister if he is the only candidate by 2pm tomorrow.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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