--- description: "I have concluded that person cannot be me" title: Boris Johnson Drops Out of Conservative Leadership Race image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49963914deada4df/69889a2dcd1bba43d570152b/boris-johnson-brexit-fallout-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [U.K.](/tag/u-k/) ## U.K. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Boris Johnson Shocks U.K. By Dropping Out of Race to be British Prime Minister by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2016 11:24 AM CUT  Former London Mayor and Vote Leave campaigner Boris Johnson announced he won't stand as a candidate to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron, London, on June 30, 2016. Former London Mayor and Vote Leave campaigner Boris Johnson announced he won't stand as a candidate to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron, London, on June 30, 2016.Andrew Parsons—i-Images/Polaris by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2016 11:24 AM CUT Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London and leader of the campaign to leave the European Union, has dramatically announced that he will not stand in the Conservative Party leadership contest. The winner of the contest will automatically become Prime Minister. “Well, I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punchline of this speech, that having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me,” he said. “My role will be to give every possible support to the next Conservative administration to make sure that we properly fulfil the mandate of the people that was delivered at the referendum and to champion the agenda that I believe in, to stick up for the forgotten people of this country.” His decision followed the shock leadership announcement of fellow Brexit campaigner Michael Gove— who was widely believed to back Johnson’s leadership bid. Gove said that he did not have confidence in Johnson’s ability to lead the country. The leadership race follows U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s[ resignation announcement](http://time.com/4386934/theresa-may-boris-johnson-leader-conservative-party/ "undefined") on June 24, in response Britain’s decision to leave the E.U. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4389068/boris-johnson-shocks-u-k-by-dropping-out-of-race-to-be-british-prime-minister/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4389068/boris-johnson-shocks-u-k-by-dropping-out-of-race-to-be-british-prime-minister/"},"headline":"Boris Johnson Shocks U.K. By Dropping Out of Race to be British Prime Minister","datePublished":"2016-06-30T11:24:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:57:12.558Z","description":"\"I have concluded that person cannot be me\"","url":"https://time.com/4389068/boris-johnson-shocks-u-k-by-dropping-out-of-race-to-be-british-prime-minister/","keywords":["U.K."],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49963914deada4df/69889a2dcd1bba43d570152b/boris-johnson-brexit-fallout-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49963914deada4df/69889a2dcd1bba43d570152b/boris-johnson-brexit-fallout-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Boris Johnson cancels leadership campaign","caption":"Former London Mayor and Vote Leave campaigner Boris Johnson announced he won't stand as a candidate to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron, London, on June 30, 2016.","creditText":"Andrew Parsons—i-Images/Polaris","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/u-k/","name":"U.K."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4389068/boris-johnson-shocks-u-k-by-dropping-out-of-race-to-be-british-prime-minister/","name":"Boris Johnson Shocks U.K. By Dropping Out of Race to be British Prime Minister"}}]}] ```