Ben Wallace, the defense secretary, has withdrawn from the race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, despite being the betting favorite.
The lawmaker, 52, had assembled a campaign team and had placed first in a YouGov survey of candidates to succeed David Cameron as head of the Conservative Party.
But yesterday afternoon, a day after former Chancellor Rishi Sunak began his own leadership candidacy, he said on Twitter that he would not compete.
On Twitter, Mr. Wallace declared: “After careful deliberation and discussion with colleagues and family, I have decided not to enter the race for Conservative Party leadership.”
He added that it had not been an ‘easy’ choice to make, but said his focus is on his role as Defence Secretary and ‘keeping this great country safe’.
It was reported on Friday night that Mr Wallace was still discussing with his family over whether to enter the contest to replace Mr Johnson.
Mr Johnson said on Thursday he will step down after dozens of ministers resign from his government.
“I wish the very best of luck to all candidates,” Mr. Wallace said in his statement. “I hope we quickly return to focusing on the issues that we are all elected to handle.”
James Heappey, a minister for the armed forces, was rumored to be in charge of Mr. Wallace’s campaign.
The Defence Secretary had spent the previous two days “thinking pretty hard” about whether he wanted to run, according to Mr. Heappey, who spoke to the Daily Telegraph last night.
He said, “It’s so characteristically Ben that he realizes it is a huge job and wants to make sure he is ready for it. If he is, he will make a terrific prime minister.”
Mr Wallace, a former Army officer, had been expected to attract a lot of support from across the Conservative party.
He remained loyal to close friend Mr Johnson and did not resign from Cabinet during the crisis this week.
After overseeing the UK’s military operation in Ukraine, he is also regarded as a “safe pair of hands.”
After the Taliban seized control of the nation in August of last year, he was also in command of the campaign to evacuate UK citizens and others from Afghanistan.
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, is the other well-known candidate who has launched her candidacy in addition to Mr. Sunak.
Other potential contenders, like former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, have not yet made their intentions known.
Jeremy Hunt, who was Foreign Secretary and Health Secretary under Theresa May and David Cameron, has refused to comment on whether he will be me launching his own bid.