Priti Patel rules out bid to contest UK PM race

Ending days of speculation, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel ruled out a bid to contest the race to replace Boris Johnson as the new Prime Minister.

The Gujarati-origin British Indian Cabinet minister said she was grateful for the encouragement she received from her Conservative Party colleagues but would remain focussed on the job at hand at the Home Office.

She said: “I will not be putting my name forward for the ballot of MPs. As Home Secretary, I have always put the security and safety of our country and the national interest first and my focus is to continue working to get more police on our streets, support our amazing security services to keep our country safe and control our borders."

The 50-year-old senior Tory MP is yet to confirm which candidate she would be backing to replace Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street.