Penny Mordaunt has dropped out of the Conservative leadership race at the last minute, paving the way for Rishi Sunak to become the next prime minister.
The leader of the Commons had struggled to get fellow MPs to publicly declare as former chancellor Mr Sunak’s support surged.
Party rules meant each candidate needed at least 100 nominations by Monday afternoon to stay in the race.
Ms Mordaunt only had 25 public backers as of Monday morning, though a source from her campaign team claimed she had up to 90 nominations and would not be pulling out of the race.
In a tweet minutes before the results were due to be announced, Ms Mordaunt said: “These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty.
“They have taken this decision in good faith for the sake of the country.”
She added: “We all owe it to the country to each other and to Rishi to unite and work together for the good of the nation.
“There is much work to be done”
Her decision came after Boris Johnson also withdrew from the contest on Sunday evening, despite claiming he had the backing of at least the 100 MPs required to make it on to the ballot.
Announcing the results of the leadership race, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 committee, said the Conservative Party only received one “valid” nomination to be the leader and therefore prime minister.
This means that Mr Sunak is the new leader of the Tory Party and will become prime minister, picking up the keys to Downing Street as early as today.
Had Ms Mordaunt stayed in the race and received over 100 nominations, the vote would have gone to party members.
The MP for Portsmouth North, who came third in the race to become prime minister last time round, was the first candidate to declare her leadership bid on Friday afternoon.
The second leadership contest in three months began last Thursday after the extraordinary resignation of Liz Truss.
