Defence secretary had been tipped to stand and was seen as a possible favourite to replace Boris Johnson
The race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister has taken an unexpected and dramatic twist as Ben Wallace, widely tipped as a likely candidate and possible favourite, announced he was not standing.
The defence secretary, who came top in a recent ConservativeHome poll of Tory party members about who should take over from Johnson, said in a pair of tweets that he had decided not to run.
