London, United Kingdom - British politician Rishi Sunak was on Monday elected Conservative leader and will become the next prime minister, after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow MPs.
"Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative Party," senior backbencher Graham Brady said, as Mordaunt vowed her "full support" for the former finance minister.
Britain's Boris Johnson on Sunday dramatically ended an audacious bid to return to power within weeks of having been ousted, announcing he would not run to replace outgoing leader Liz Truss.
The surprise decision the ex-premier said had been reached reluctantly after recognising he would not lead "a united party in parliament".
Johnson, 58, said he had reached out to both Sunak and cabinet member Penny Mordaunt - who launched her leadership campaign on Friday - to "come together in the national interest".
But the three of them had "not been able to work out a way of doing this", he added.
"Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds," he said in a statement.
"I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time."
* This is a developing story.