Ben Wallace rules himself out of leadership race.
“I think you really have to want it as prime minister to do that job, you have to really think it’s the job for you.
For me, I feel that I can have the best value in keeping people safe at defence by being the defence secretary. It’s the job that I have been doing and it’s the goal I intend to stay doing, so I’m not going to be standing for prime minister this time.
He did not publicly back anyone for leader but said he is “leaning towards” Boris Johnson. He said:
I have to recognise the issue of the mandate. This will be potentially our third prime minister since a general election 2019. That means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, but also about who could win the next election. That’s obviously important for any political party at the time.
So at the moment, I would lean towards Boris Johnson.”
The European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs will convene a full plenary meeting on Monday morning to discuss who it should back in the leadership contest, the Telegraph reports.
The discussions will begin at 10.30am on Monday and will play a key part in whether Boris Johnson can win the necessary 100 MPs to face the members in the round of ballot.