Health Secretary Matt Hancock has bowed out of the Tory leadership contest, the day after he came sixth in the first round of the vote.
In a statement Mr Hancock said: "I ran as the candidate of the future, but the party is understandably looking for a candidate for the unique circumstances we face right now. I will talk to all the other candidates about how these values can be best taken forward."
Thank you for all your support. I have decided to withdraw from the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. I will now look for the best way to advance the values we fought for. pic.twitter.com/OGcAjf0S0f
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) 14 June 2019
Mr Johnson is the clear favourite to win the contest but a second round of voting will take place among MPs on Tuesday, June 18, and the race is on for second place with Jeremy Hunt - who won 43 votes - fractionally ahead of Michael Gove, who got 39.
Dominic Raab, who got 27 and Sajid Javid, who got 23, and Rory Stewart, who polled 19, will now come under pressure to quit and throw their weight behind Mr Johnson, Mr Hunt or Mr Gove.
BREAK: Health Secretary @MattHancock has withdrawn from the Tory leadership race. He is yet to confirm who he’s backing, but during our interview with him just now he wore a pair of socks with “this is what a feminist looks like” written on them, so we can rule out at least one. pic.twitter.com/fNtmMO5Zlr
— Daniel Hewitt (@DanielHewittITV) 14 June 2019
The two candidates who are left in the contest at the end of next week will go onto a ballot paper which will be sent out to the 100,000 members of the Conservative Party and they will choose which one becomes the leader of the party, and the next prime minister, on 22 July.
Theresa May, the caretaker prime minister, has not endorsed any of the candidates.
