UK finance minister George Osborne has officially said he will not stand in the UK's Conservative Party leadership race 28 June 2016
Eamonn had the breaking news earlier but here's a bit more detail from Osborne's letter in The Times:
"It isn't in my nature to do things by half-measure and I fought the referendum campaign with everything I've got. I believed in this cause and fought hard for it.
"So it is clear that while I completely accept the result, I am not the person to provide the unity my party needs."
Osborne also said that Mr Cameron had "sensibly delayed" triggering Article 50 - the formal notification of an intention to leave the EU.
"Only the UK can do this, and we should not be rushed. It should only happen when we have a clear view of what our new relationship with our European allies should be, and this will need time and cool heads to determine."
Osborne's position as fin min or potential PM was always
going to be untenable in the event of Leave as I pointed out here a few
times. Now we wait to see whether he falls on his own sword or is
left in place for the moment to avoid further fall-out headlines.
Osborne - Markets gave a big thumbs down to his Keep Calm message yesterday
