UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, one of the bookies' favourites to succeed Boris Johnson, has said he will not run for the Conservative Party leadership, BBC reports.
In a statement on Twitter, he said his focus is on his current job and "keeping this great country safe".
Wishing luck to the contenders, Mr Wallace said he hoped "we swiftly return to focusing on the issues".
The most high profile candidate to replace Mr Johnson so far is former Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
It had looked like Mr Wallace was in a particularly strong position as he had been topping surveys run by the website Conservative Home and was the bookmakers' favourite.
There will now be a lot of interest in which of the candidates he endorses, as getting him on board is likely to be a big boost to their campaign.
