Boris Johnson makes surprise announcement he will not run for Tory leadership

Boris Johnson will not join the race for the Tory leadership. The surprise announcement was made today after rife speculation that one of the Brexit figureheads would be most likely to take over the leadership of the party after David Cameron resigns in October.

Johnson was expected to be a natural contender for the PM’s role, but today said that he would not be running.

“People voted to leave the EU last week. It was a cause I passionately supported… [but] this is the agenda for the next leader. That person will not be me.”

Johnson started his speech by claiming the UK needed to create an economy where everyone benefits from success.

“There are too many people who have not seen their wages rise. Or have seen them fall. FTSE 100 bosses now receive 150 times as much as their workers. It used to be 50 times… I am no communist. But I want a society where everyone has a chance,” the former London mayor said in a speech calling for a way of tackling income inequality.

“The party needs to unite now. I wants the most talented people in the country to come together.”

The home secretary Theresa May has announced her leadership bid for the party, and is widely considered to be the frontrunner for MPs who do not belong to the right-wing of the party and who favoured Brexit.

UK justice secretary Michael Gove announced he will run for leadership of the Conservative party, claiming that his fellow anti-EU campaigner Johnson was not cut out to be leader.

“I have repeatedly said that I do not want to be Prime Minister. That has always been my view, but events since last Thursday have weighed heavily on me,” he said in a statement. “I respect and admire all the candidates running for the leadership. In particular, I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future.

“But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.”

Former mayor of London Boris Johnson, home secretary Theresa May, energy minister Andrea Leadsom, former defence secretary Liam Fox, and work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb have all thrown their hats into the ring for the contest to replace David Cameron.

Cameron, who has been Tory leader for ten years and Prime Minister since May 2010, will step down from his post after losing the vote on the UK’s future membership of the EU.

He said that fresh leadership is required to take on the task of negotiating the UK’s split from the EU. The outcome of the contest is due on 9 September.