Why did Boris Johnson withdraw if he had the nominations?

The former prime minister said he needed a united party in parliament, but there was another reason for pulling out, writes John Rentoul

Boris Johnson may have feared a humiliating defeat at the hands of his former subordinate (Getty)

Sir Graham Brady, the rule-keeper, umpire and returning officer for Conservative leadership elections, has confirmed that Boris Johnson did have the 102 nominations he needed to take the contest to a vote of the members.

In an interview with the BBC’s North West Tonight on Friday, Sir Graham said that “two candidates” had reached the threshold, and “one of them decided not to then submit his nomination”. At the time, I was sceptical about the claim made on Johnson’s behalf that he had the backers he needed among MPs, but we now know that he could have forced the election to go to the next stage.

Instead, he withdrew and allowed Rishi Sunak to be elected unopposed, after Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough backing.