"I Truly Hope...": Rishi Sunak After Boris Johnson Pulls Out Of UK PM Race

Britain's former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday praised the leadership of former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the latter pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race.

Mr Sunak, who is now most likely to succeed Liz Truss as the first Indian-origin UK Prime Minister, said Johnson led the UK through some of the toughest challenges including Brexit, COVID vaccine rollout and the war in Ukraine.

"Boris Johnson delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out. He led our country through some of the toughest challenges we have ever faced, and then took on Putin and his barbaric war in Ukraine. We will always be grateful to him for that," Sunak tweeted.

"Although he has decided not to run for PM again, I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad," he added.

The United Kingdom is set to have its first Prime Minister of Indian origin, Rishi Sunak, after Boris Johnson dropped out of the race, according to UK media reports.

Johnson ruled himself out of the Conservative party leadership race despite claiming he had the required support.

He said he had come to the conclusion "this would simply not be the right thing to do" as "you can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in Parliament," reported Independent.ie.

He also added that this was due to the failure to reach a deal with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. "I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds," he said.

Johnson added, "I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time." "I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 - and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow."

"There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members - and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday."

"But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament," he continued saying, reported Independent.

Johnson's campaign team earlier told supporters they have secured the 100 nominations needed from MPs for the former prime minister to get on the ballot paper.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)