Penny Mordaunt is pulling out of the Tory leadership race

Rishi Sunak will become Prime Minister after his only remaining rival, Penny Mordaunt, withdrew from the race for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

Mordaunt, a former defense secretary, said Mr. Sunak her “full support” after pulling out of the competition minutes before the 2 p.m. deadline.

Her team told the media that it was “confident” it could reach the 100 nominations needed to get on the MP ballot and force a vote among the Conservative party membership.

A spokeswoman said on Monday: “Penny is talking to colleagues across the party. She’s getting the numbers and she wants to win.”

Ms Mordaunt said: “These are unprecedented times. Despite the tight timetable for the leadership contest, it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today.

“They made this decision in good faith for the good of the country.

“Members should know that this proposal has been fairly and thoroughly tested by the agreed process of 1922.

“That is why we have now chosen the next prime minister.”

Under the leadership contest rules laid down by Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the committee in 1922, there will be no voting among members if only one MP receives more than 100 nominations from his colleagues.

Mr Sunak will become leader of the Conservative Party when Sir Graham and the rest of the 1922 executive announce the result at 2pm on Monday.

His “coronation” is likely to spark anger among core Conservative members, who will not have a say in the next leader as per normal procedure.

Sir Graham introduced a high limit of 100 nominations to speed up the competition and it is thought the rules were designed to encourage a smaller number of candidates to compete and consider doing deals with each other.

Boris Johnson, who had the second-highest public support of MPs before pulling out of the race on Sunday night, claimed more than 102 of his peers had said they would back his nomination.

‘It’s just not the right time’

But he said he did “it’s just not the right time” for him to come back as prime minister after leaving office in July in the shadow of the partygate scandal and questions about the appointment of Chris Pincher to a government role.

His withdrawal could have benefited Ms Mordaunt’s campaign and provided her with more potential supporters, but by Monday morning it appeared that most Mr. Johnson’s supporters backed Mr. Sunak.

They included Nadhim Zahawi, who endorsed Mr Johnson just hours before pulling out of the race, while James Cleverly urged colleagues to back Mr Sunak as the candidate with “the most experience”.

Other bigwigs in the party, including Michael Gove and Sir Robert Buckland, the Welsh minister, have not yet endorsed a candidate, but announced their support for Mr Sunak on Monday.

Sunak will become the first Indian Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first Hindu Prime Minister and the youngest to hold the position in 210 years.

It is Ms Mordaunt’s second failed leadership bid after her previous campaign to replace Mr Johnson in July.

She eventually withdrew from the race to back Liz Truss – after her election she took up a role in her government as Commons leader.

She has been the MP for Portsmouth North since 2010.