Brexit leader Boris Johnson says he won't run for prime minister

LONDON — The race to succeed David Cameron as prime minister of Britain was turned upside down on Thursday when Boris Johnson, widely seen as the leading candidate, chose at the last minute not to run, after his close ally Michael Gove unexpectedly said he would seek the job.

The turn of events was the latest political aftershock from Britain's vote last week to leave the European Union, and it could benefit another candidate, Theresa May, the home secretary, who laid out her case Thursday for why she should lead the party.

Johnson said, "Last week, the people of this country voted to take a new path and a new direction for Britain, in a decision that I passionately support."

"It is vital now to see this moment for what it is," he continued. "This is not a time to quail, it is not a crisis, nor should we see it as an excuse for wobbling or self-doubt, but it is a moment for hope and ambition for Britain. A time not to fight against the tide of history, but to take that tide at the flood, and sail on to fortune."

But Johnson, 52, said he was not the person to unite the party and the country.

"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 fulfill the mandate of the people that was delivered at the referendum, and to champion the agenda I believe in."

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The emerging competition between Gove, 48, and May, 59, is now the dominant dynamic in Britain's fast-moving political upheaval.

May, who supported staying in the EU but was a relatively quiet voice in that debate, is considered a candidate of continuity who is farther to the right of the party than Cameron. She had been thought to have the best chance of derailing the flamboyant and popular Johnson.

As recently as Wednesday, Gove, who is the justice secretary and who had repeatedly said he was not interested in becoming prime minister, was thought to have made a deal to support Johnson.

But in a statement Thursday morning, Gove said that over the last few days, he had "come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead."

Last Friday, the day after the British referendum, Cameron announced that he would resign by October.

The turmoil in the Conservative Party is following a script, with friends betrayed and secret deals, that sounds as much like something from "Game of Thrones" as it does contemporary British politics. Several candidates are running to raise their profiles and increase their bargaining power with the prospective victor, for example: Stephen Crabb, a young Welsh lawmaker and the work and pensions secretary, who entered the leadership contest on Wednesday; Andrea Leadsom, a minister for energy, who declared her candidacy on Thursday; and Liam Fox, a former defense secretary who has vied for the party's leadership in the past.

May, in a speech on Thursday, promised "a sensible and orderly departure from the European Union." She ruled out the possibility of a referendum, saying, "Brexit means Brexit."

May portrayed herself as a candidate for ordinary voters. "If you're from an ordinary working-class family, life is just much harder than many people in politics realize," she said. "You have a job, but you often don't have job security."

She added, "Frankly, not everybody in Westminster understands that," referring to Parliament.

In a veiled jab at Johnson, she said: "What happens in government isn't a game. It is serious business that has real consequences for people's lives."

May has been occasionally likened to Margaret Thatcher, the former Conservative prime minister, as they both came from humble roots. "I grew up the daughter of a local vicar, and the granddaughter of a regimental sergeant-major," May said. "Public service has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember.

The various candidates will be winnowed down to two by successive votes by Conservative Party members of Parliament. The next leader will then be chosen among the two by the 150,000 or so registered members of the party, with an outcome to be announced on Sept. 9.

The opposition Labour Party, too, is in the midst of a leadership struggle. The incumbent, Jeremy Corbyn, overwhelmingly lost a no-confidence vote among Labour's members of Parliament, but he has said he will not resign. He is being challenged by Angela Eagle, the former Labour spokeswoman for business, who is believed to have the support of the 51 Labour legislators required to force a leadership contest, which is also expected to run into September if Corbyn remains in his job.

Gove, who was unpopular in his previous cabinet post as education secretary, has been a close friend of Cameron.

The prime minister's aides have been widely reported as seeking to block the rise of Johnson, who only backed "Leave" at the last minute, even though Cameron had promised him his choice of almost any job in the government to back "Remain."

Johnson is popular in the country and is an excellent campaigner, and he is generally considered to have done a good job as mayor of London, although the job has relatively little power.

But he is mistrusted by some in the party as a showman, more comfortable with the game of politics than the substance of government. And it has been evident in the days since last Thursday's vote that Johnson and Gove had no agreed-upon plan for what to do if they won the referendum, and that they have disagreements about how to approach the future.

In an email to Gove from his wife, the journalist Sarah Vine, that was leaked on Wednesday, she urged her husband to approach a commitment to Johnson with skepticism, and to lock down any commitments beforehand, especially on controls over immigration.

She encouraged Gove to have "leverage" in his dealings with Johnson, claiming that without Gove's support, the Conservative Party membership will not have "the necessary reassurance to back Boris" in the leadership vote.

Ed Vaizey, a Conservative lawmaker, said that he declared support for Gove's campaign after a meeting in the justice secretary's office in Parliament about 9 a.m. on Thursday — a gathering that included the lawmaker Dominic Raab, who had already come out in support of Johnson.

He said that Gove "was ready to back Boris, but the closer it got, and the harder he thought about it, he thought, 'I don't think he's the right person, and I need to follow that thought through to its logical conclusion.' "

Raab and others said that Gove made the decision because Johnson had failed to give assurances of positions, if he became prime minister, for others who had supported a British exit.

Less than two weeks ago, just days before the June 23 referendum, Gove was adamant that he did not have the desire or the talent to become prime minister.

Praising Cameron "as an exceptional person with exceptional talents," Gove told The Daily Telegraph, "I don't think I have got that exceptional level of ability required for the job."

The job itself would be too grueling in any case, Gove said, citing the experience of the last Labour prime minister.

Four years ago, Gove told the BBC, "I could not be prime minister, I'm not equipped to be prime minister, I don't want to be prime minister."

But all that was then.

Mark Field, who had argued for Britain to stay in the EU, said that the developments did not reflect well on supporters of a British withdrawal.

"It is not a great advertisement," he said, joking, "But at least it shows that it is not only the Labour Party that is capable of running a total shambles."