Boris Johnson announces he will not run to be next UK prime minster

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pulled himself out of the race to lead the Conservative Party on Sunday, saying that “you can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.”

“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,” Johnson said in a statement.

“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.”

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Johnson was ousted in July and replaced by Liz Truss, who subsequently quit last week after just 44 days in power. 

Reuters contributed to this report.