London: In a surprise move, former British PM Boris Johnson on Sunday announced that he will not be contesting the Conservative Party leadership race, with frontrunner Rishi Sunak moving a step closer to be elected Britain’s first Indian-origin prime minister.
The 55-year-old former leader claimed he had crossed the 100-MPs threshold but decided not to go forward in the interest of Tory party’s unity.
In a statement, Johnson — who resigned in July in the wake of the ‘partygate’ scandal of COVID-19 lockdown law-breaking parties — said he had "cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations", but came to the conclusion that "this is simply not the right time".
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