Rishi Sunak favourite to be UK prime minister as Boris Johnson drops comeback bid
- Rishi Sunak will become prime minister on Monday unless Penny Mordaunt reaches the threshold of 100 backers to force a run-off vote by party members
- Boris Johnson, who never formally announced his bid to return to Downing Street, has spent the weekend trying to persuade Conservative MPs to back him
Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday, saying that although he had enough support to make the final ballot he realised the country and the Conservative Party needed unity.
Johnson had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try to secure the backing of 100 MPs to enter Monday’s ballot to replace Liz Truss, the woman who succeeded him in September after he was driven out of office over a string of scandals.
Johnson said he had secured the backing of 102 MPs, but that he had failed to persuade either Sunak, or the other contender Penny Mordaunt, to come together “in the national interest”.
“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,” Johnson said in a statement late on Sunday.
“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
Johnson’s statement is likely to pave the way for his arch rival, Sunak, to become prime minister, possibly as soon as Monday, replacing Truss who was forced to resign after she launched an economic programme that triggered turmoil on financial markets.