Boris Johnson pulls out of race to be leader of UK’s Conservative Party and next prime minister

[Right_in_Virginia]

Boris Johnson pulls out of race to be leader of UK’s Conservative Party and next prime minister
CNN, Oct 23, 2022

UK former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pulled out of the contest to become the next Conservative Party leader and therefore the next prime minister, Britain’s PA Media news agency reported Sunday.

Johnson claimed to have garnered the support of 100 MPs – the minimum number required to clear the threshold to appear on the ballot for the Conservative Party membership – but declined to run, saying “this would simply not be the right thing to do” as “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament,” according to PA.

His announcement comes after Britain’s former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak officially entered the race to lead the Conservative Party, his second attempt at the position this year.


More:  https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/23/world/boris-johnson-will-not-contest-conservative-party-int/index.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

In a statement, Mr. Johnson said he believed he had a path to victory in the contest to replace Ms. Truss. But he said, “I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do.”

Mr. Johnson said he did not believe he could govern effectively without a unified party in Parliament. Despite what he said were his efforts to reach out to Mr. Sunak and his other rival, Penny Mordaunt, “we have sadly not been able to work out a way to do this.”

Mr. Johnson’s decision ends a feverish couple of days in which he mounted a lively bid to reclaim the job he gave up three months ago amid a cascade of scandals. The former prime minister’s campaign never gained momentum, however, as prominent members of the Conservative Party threw their support to Mr. Sunak as a better option to try to reunite a deeply divided party.

Mr. Sunak, who formally declared his candidacy with a promise to “fix our economy,” had lined up at least 146 votes by late Sunday afternoon, according to a tally by the BBC, more than double the 57 votes pledged to Mr. Johnson.

Beyond the numerical advantage, Mr. Sunak picked up multiple endorsements from people on the Conservative Party’s right flank. On Sunday morning, Steve Baker, a lawmaker who represents an influential group of euro-skeptics in Parliament, announced he would support Mr. Sunak.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/23/world/europe/uk-prime-minister-race-sunak-johnson.html