Boris Johnson drops bid to return as UK prime minister

LONDON — Boris Johnson pulled out of the race to succeed Liz Truss as Britain’s prime minister Sunday evening, leaving Rishi Sunak, his former chancellor of the Exchequer, with a commanding lead in the contest to be Britain’s next leader.

In a statement, Johnson said he believed he had a path to victory in the contest to replace Truss. But he said, “I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do.”

Johnson said he did not believe he could govern effectively without a unified party in Parliament. Despite what he said were his efforts to reach out to Sunak and his other rival, Penny Mordaunt, “we have sadly not been able to work out a way to do this.”

Johnson’s decision ends a feverish couple of days in which he mounted a lively bid to reclaim the job he gave up three months ago amid a cascade of scandals. The former prime minister’s campaign never gained momentum, however, as prominent members of the Conservative Party threw their support to Sunak as a better option to try to reunite a deeply divided party.

Sunak, who formally declared his candidacy with a promise to “fix our economy,” had lined up at least 146 votes by late Sunday afternoon, according to a tally by the BBC, more than double the 57 votes pledged to Johnson.

Beyond the numerical advantage, Sunak picked up multiple endorsements from people on Conservative Party’s right flank. On Sunday morning, Steve Baker, a lawmaker who represents an influential group of euroskeptics in Parliament, announced he would support Sunak.

Later in the day, Suella Braverman, an immigration hard-liner who served briefly as home secretary under Truss, threw her support to him, as did Kemi Badenoch, a rising star in the party who is international trade secretary.

“Boris Johnson would be a guaranteed disaster,” Mr. Baker told Sophy Ridge of Sky News. “We cannot allow it to happen.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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