Johnson dropped out of the race, claiming he had the required nominations to get on the ballot but couldn’t unify the party. Claims by his supporters that he had reached the threshold of nominations to secure a place on the final ballot were met with skepticism by politicians across the divide as well as commentators. However, speaking to the BBC, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, said two candidates had reached the threshold and “one of them has decided not to stand further”. Brady spoke of his experiences meeting with Liz Truss and Johnson at separate stages this year to tell them they no longer had the support of a majority of their congressmen. He told BBC North West Tonight that Truss had “come to the same conclusion” as him about the untenable status of her prime ministership, while Johnson was “still determined to carry on” the night before she announced her resignation. After Sunak became PM unopposed, Johnson tweeted: “Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on this historic day, this is the time for every Conservative to give our new PM their full and wholehearted support.” The former prime minister offered his congratulations a day after messages from outgoing prime minister Mr Truss and his Sunack colleague Penny Mordant. In his speech, Sunak said he would be “forever grateful” to Johnson for his “incredible achievements” in No 10. He pledged to deliver on the 2019 Conservative manifesto. He said: “I will always be grateful to Boris Johnson for his incredible achievements as Prime Minister and appreciate his warmth and generosity of spirit. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “I know he would agree that the mandate my party won in 2019 is not the exclusive property of any one person, it is a mandate that belongs to and unites us all. And the heart of this mandate is our manifesto. I will keep his promise.” In a statement, Johnson said there was a “very good chance” he could have returned to No 10 by the end of the week if he had stood. However, his attempts to “close” his rivals – Sunak and Mordaunt – to work together for the national interest were unsuccessful and so he decided to quit.