Array
Boris Johnson ruled himself out of the contest to be the next prime minister of the UK on Sunday.
The declaration, issued around 9 p.m. local time, ended the extraordinary prospect of Johnson returning to power only two months after leaving Downing Street in disgrace.
His departure left two Conservative Party MPs in the running to succeed Liz Truss, who resigned on Thursday after a disastrous six weeks in power as Johnson’s successor.
The two remaining candidates are Rishi Sunak, who was Johnson’s finance minister, and Penny Mordaunt, a former cabinet minister with a much smaller profile.
Mordaunt reached third place in the last leadership election, which Truss won, while Sunak was second.
