The former prime minister claimed he’d garnered enough support to get on the ballot but it’s “simply not the right time.”
, all but guaranteeing that former U.K. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will get the top job at No. 10 Downing Street.
“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time,” Johnson said. Though he claimed that he’d been “overwhelmed by the number of people” encouraging him to stand for leader of the Conservative Party, Johnson said he was standing down after failing to reach an agreement with his main rivals, Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, the leader of the House of Commons.
Johnson never formally declared an intention to run, unlike Mordaunt, who announced her bid on Friday, and Sunak, with whom Johnson met on Saturday evening. Without providing details, Sunak supporter Dominic RaabOn Sunday morning, Sunak, a former hedge-fund manager, declared that he would be throwing his hat in the ring.
Johnson served as British prime minister from 2019 until this July, when he resigned over his government’s outraged response to a series of ethical scandals, including accusations that he lied to parliament aboutHis handpicked successor, Liz Truss, governed for a grand total of 45 days before what was widely viewed as her incompetence—best illustrated by a disastrous tax plan—resigned in disgrace, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in the nation’s history.
Soon after, Johnson cut short a holiday in the Dominican Republic to return home. “I hope you enjoyed your holiday boss,”READ THIS LIST