HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has withdrawn from the Tory leadership race.
The original field of 10 candidates has now been whittled down six, following the elimination on Thursday of three hopefuls in the first round of voting.
Esther McVey, Mark Harper and Andrea Leadsom all dropped out after securing the backing of just 9, 10 and 11 MPs respectively.
Hancock was supported by 20 in the first ballot, one ahead of Rory Stewart but considerably short of the total won by front-runner Boris Johnson with 114.
READ MORE: Boris closer to becoming PM after huge victory in leadership contest
The Health Secretary commented: "I'm hugely grateful for the warm and enthusiastic support I've received throughout this campaign, and am proud of the way we managed to set the agenda by promoting new ideas to make people's lives better.
"I ran as the candidate of the future, but the party is understandably looking for a candidate for the unique circumstances we face right now.
"I have therefore decided to withdraw from this contest, and I will look for the best way to advance the values we fought for, of free enterprise, and an open, aspirational, free society, underpinned by an optimistic belief in the value of each individual person.
"I will talk to all the other candidates about how these values can be best taken forward."
Thank you for all your support. I have decided to withdraw from the race to be the next leader of the Conservative Party. I will now look for the best way to advance the values we fought for. pic.twitter.com/OGcAjf0S0f
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) June 14, 2019
The remaining leadership candidates are due to take part in live, televised election debates on Channel 4 on Sunday and BBC One on Tuesday.
Hancock was recently lambasted by the SNP for a “nonsense” claim about draping Edinburgh in Union Jacks during the Fringe.
READ MORE: Matt Hancock makes ‘nonsense’ claim about Union Jack at Edinburgh Festival
In a clip broadcast on Good Morning Scotland yesterday, he said: “One of the proudest things I have done as a minister was when I was Culture Secretary, making sure we got Union Jacks on the Edinburgh festival, because the Edinburgh festival is not only Scotland’s biggest and best festival, it’s the UK’s biggest and best festival.”
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop called that “nonsense”, saying it simply didn’t happen.
The Edinburgh International Festival told The National it had no idea what Hancock was referring to.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel