The race to become Britain’s next prime minister took a surprise twist Thursday as leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, considered a frontrunner to replace the outgoing David Cameron, announced that he would not be running.
Having outlined the demands of the role to a room full of journalists in London, Johnson announced: “I have concluded that that person cannot be me.”
The Conservative MP and former London mayor was a prominent voice in the campaign to lead Britain out of the European Union — an endeavor many saw as partly an effort to position himself as the future leader of the ruling Conservative Party, and of the country.
His decision not to run means that five Conservative MPs will compete to replace Cameron, who announced his intention to resign after losing his campaign to persuade voters to remain in the EU in a national referendum last week.
They include three Cabinet ministers: Home Secretary Theresa May, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb. Conservative MPs Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom are also running.
Conservative MPs who wished to contest the leadership had until noon local time (7 a.m. ET) to declare their run.
May: Unity needed
May, Britain’s internal affairs chief since 2010, will now be a leading contender alongside Gove to be Britain’s next PM.
Announcing her candidacy at an event in central London Thursday, she said post-referendum Britain needed “strong, proven leadership to steer us through this period of economic and political uncertainty and to negotiate the best possible terms as we leave the European Union.”
“We need leadership that can unite our party and our country,” she said.
“With the Labour Party tearing itself to pieces and divisive nationalists in Scotland and Wales, it is nothing less than the patriotic duty of our party to unite and govern in the best interest of the whole country.”
Gove: Boris can’t do it
Gove, who was the leading Leave campaigner within Cameron’s Cabinet, foreshadowed Johnson’s announcement when he announced his own bid Thursday, in a move that surprised many.
Gove had campaigned closely with Johnson for a Brexit, but said he had decided to run himself after concluding that Johnson “cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.”
Crabb, a Cabinet minister and MP for the Welsh electorate of Preseli Pembrokeshire, announced his leadership ambitions at a news conference on Wednesday.
“On the rainy rugby fields of west Wales I learned that it’s not a question of waiting for the ball to pop out the back of the scrum — if you want it, you do what’s required and you get your hands on it,” he said.
MP Liam Fox, the former defense secretary who resigned from the government in 2011, put his hat into the ring Wednesday, while MP and “Leave” campaigner Andrea Leadsom announced her candidacy via Twitter Thursday.
“Delighted to say I’m running for the @Conservatives Leadership. Let’s make the most of the Brexit opportunities! #FreshStart,” she wrote.
Opposition in turmoil
The referendum result sent shockwaves through the British phttp://abovewhispers.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpolitical establishment, leaving the leadership of both major parties up for grabs as the country faces an uncertain future.
In a fiery exchange Wednesday in the first Parliamentary session since the referendum, Cameron told Corbyn that he should step down “in the national interest.”
“It might be in my party’s interest for him to sit there. It’s not in the national interest, and I would say, for heaven’s sake man, go.”