UK politics live: Rishi Sunak praises Boris Johnson’s withdrawal as nominations deadline looms

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Sajid Javid is awake and has shared an op-ed he has written in today’s Times.

Javid, who voiced his support for Sunak on Saturday, makes the case in the piece for the importance of a united Conservative party, pointing out that the British public feel lately that the Conservative party is neither popular nor “competent in acting in the national interest”:

We may not have always been popular but we have been seen to be competent in acting in the national interest. Sadly, the public are increasingly concluding we are neither. As it stands, Sir Keir Starmer is on course to win a Blair-size majority at the next general election.

The long-term consequences of such a victory would be disastrous. We know that support for proportional representation, a lower voting age of sixteen, and changes to rules on political donations is deep-rooted within Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP. We would be left in the political wilderness for years under a series of coalition governments.

Johnson’s withdrawal from the race late on Sunday puts pressure on Penny Mordaunt, the third candidate in the race, to withdraw and accept that Sunak had the support of the parliamentary party, with almost half of MPs backing him. She had only 30 public backers by Sunday night – 70 short of the number needed to get on the ballot paper.

A source on the Mordaunt campaign insisted her campaign was continuing and that she wanted to get on the ballot so party members could decide the result.

“Penny is the unifying candidate who is most likely to keep the wings of the Conservative party together and polling shows that she is the most likely candidate to hold on to the seats the Conservative party gained in 2019. [Former shadow chancellor] Ed Balls, shadow cabinet ministers and Labour advisers have all said Penny is the candidate Keir Starmer fears the most.”

Sunak is expected to sweep up many more Tory MPs on Monday morning given he has the momentum, but Mordaunt could win over any former Johnson supporters who want to stop him. The pair need to submit nominations by 2pm on Monday, and 150,000 Tory members will be asked to decide the result if they both get more than 100 nominations.

Rishi Sunak is the firm favourite in today’s race. Sunak came second in the race against Liz Truss over the summer, but racked up nominations over the weekend, ranging from rightwingers such as Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman to more centrist figures such as Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, and Grant Shapps, the home secretary.

He ended Sunday on more than 165 supporters including Cabinet Office minister Nadhim Zahawi, who had hours earlier heralded the return of what he termed “Johnson 2.0”.

A source close to Sunak told my colleague Rowena Mason that he was “not taking anything for granted”. “Rishi will be continuing to talk to colleagues tomorrow morning before nomination papers go in, and discussing how best to unite the party and take the country forward,” the campaign source said. If he succeeds he would become Britain’s first non-white PM and, as a Hindu, his victory would be sealed on Diwali.

Following Johnson’s withdrawal late on Sunday, Sunak praised his political rival noting on Twitter that Johnson “delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out” and “led our country through some of the toughest challenges we have ever faced”. Britain would “always be grateful to him for that”, he wrote, adding, “I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the Tory party leadership contest. With the 2pm deadline for nominations approaching, at least 165 MPs have declared support for Rishi Sunak – well above the 100 needed. With Boris Johnson out of the running, Sunak’s only rival is Penny Mordaunt, who on Sunday night had 30 supporters.

The pair need to submit nominations by 2pm on Monday, and 150,000 Tory members will be asked to decide the result if they both get more than 100 nominations.

My name is Helen Sullivan, and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next while. If you have questions or see news we may have missed, you can get in touch on Twitter here.

In the meantime, here is a summary of what happened on an eventful Sunday.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson has ended his bid to return to power within months of being ousted, claiming that although he had the numbers, he would not run to replace Liz Truss, who resigned as Conservative party leader on Thursday after just 45 days in office. Johnson claimed to have won the support of 102 colleagues – two clear of the threshold needed – but only about 60 had publicly stated their support for him.

Johnson said he reached the decision reluctantly after recognising he would not lead “a united party in parliament”. He said, “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,” and, “You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.” Read his full statement here.

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak praised Johnson on Twitter late on Sunday, noting Johnson “delivered Brexit and the great vaccine roll-out” and “led our country through some of the toughest challenges we have ever faced”. Britain would “always be grateful to him for that”, he wrote, adding, “I truly hope he continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”

Sunak appears set to become party leader and prime minister. He ended Sunday with more than 165 supporters ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline. Sunak came second in the race against Truss over the summer.

The chances of a general election have risen, according to some estimations. Johnson supporter Nadine Dorries has said an election was now “impossible to avoid”. Labour, which has opened up huge poll leads, is demanding an election. Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, said: “The Tories are about to hand the keys of the country to Rishi Sunak without him saying a single word about how he would govern. No one voted for this. Perhaps it’s not surprising he’s avoiding scrutiny: after all, he was so bad that just a few weeks ago, he was trounced by Liz Truss.”

Contender Penny Mordaunt, who missed out on the last contest’s run-off by just eight votes, will now come under pressure to concede rather than force the contest to a vote of members. However a source on the Mordaunt campaign insisted her campaign was continuing and that she wanted to get on the ballot so party members could decide the result.

Johnson and Sunak held talks late into Saturday night, according to reports. The ex-leader also reportedly spoke on Sunday to Mordaunt, who was said to have rebuffed his calls to back him, noting her supporters were likely to split more for Sunak.

Mordaunt could yet win over any former Johnson supporters who want to stop Sunak. Each needs to submit nominations by 2pm on Monday. If both get more than 100 nominations, 150,000 Tory members will be asked to decide the result.

Sunak launched his official campaign with a declaration that “fixing the economy” was his priority, but he gave no media interviews or formal manifesto. If Sunak succeeds on Monday he will become Britain’s first non-white PM, and as a Hindu, his victory will be sealed on Diwali.

Mordaunt spoke to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, telling her she would be a “halfway house” between Sunak and Johnson but refused to be drawn on any economic policies or decisions on tax and spending.

A survey by Conservative pollster James Johnson still found all three Tory candidates had negative favourability. The survey found that Johnson was on -24, Mordaunt -15 and Sunak -2.