To not understand why Boris Johnson pulled out when Michael Gove announced he was running for PM?

[IonaNE]

I mean, yes, M.Gove was supposed to run B.Johnson's campaign. He suddenly popped up and decided to have a go for himself. And? B. Johnson could still have run, could have found someone else to run his campaign (how about whoever ran his campaign when he ran for mayor; or whoever ran D. Cameron's?). M. Gove and B. Johnson could just have run against each other (and T. May). I don't understand why he quit (unless the whole thing was pre-planned, of course.) Can anyone shed light on this?

Summerwood, you really like a proven liar with a record of cheating on his wife?

Each to his or her own, I suppose.

Boris never wanted to win the referendum for leave. He switched from a pro EU stance only a few months ago. He wanted to raise his national profile (instead of being seen as a Londoner only) and win the sympathy of leave voters when he fought but lost for them. He would then have been a uniting candidate for both sides, both magnanimous in defeat, but able to say soothing things about the EU to either side. And David Cameron would have stayed on for a few years, giving time for everything to settle down before Boris stood to lead the Tories.

It has all gone wrong for Boris. He'll have lost support in London. There is no Brexit plan and a genuine, see-it-through leave leader would be up shit creek. Gove standing has saved Boris from the shit he's created.

"I think he's realised that replacing Cameron is a poisoned chalice for a Leave campaigner. He'll probably run to replace the fall guy who replaces Cameron as they'll get all the shit for the Euro exit and then he can sweep in and fix it claiming the way he does it then is how he always intended to do it."

^^ That.

Boris never wanted to win the referendum for leave

I have seen this stated numerous times without reference and would like to know the source, please.
Surprised to win, yes
Shocked DC resigned, undoubtably
But I see no evidence he did not want to win.

tompride.wordpress.com/2016/05/28/the-great-eu-debate-boris-johnson-vs-boris-johnson/

Like some of the comments too: "Whilst I find myself agreeing with Mr Johnson, I have to say that Boris is talking out of his arse."

Dacre is Backing May. The Mail Online are doing some "She's soooo much like Thatcher" type articles at the mo.

Gove stabbed him on the back...but then with his evil triumvirate colluding with Gove and Farage over a racist, hate filled and untrue 'leave' campaign, Boris had it coming. Good. Hope he'll be long cast into the wilderness with the rest of his phony cronies and take Gove down with him too. As their madre would have said 'It was an act of treachery with a smile on its face'. Wish she was still here to use her handbag to knock some sense into the lot of them.

David Cameron dislikes Gove, because Gove promised he'd take a low profile in the Leave campaign,

Theresa May dislikes Gove because he made her life difficult as Home Secretary.

Boris hates Gove for obvious reasons.

Gove is going to struggle to be trusted by other Tories. Puts me in mind of the scorpion and the frog story...

Boris is playing the long game. Nearly half the electorate votes against brexir and he will need their vote at the next general election. He wants a patsy to press the brexit button for him

Boris withdrew because his support was split and shattered by Michael Gove's decision to become a contender.
Boris would not have been able to get enough MPs to support his bid, nor enough 'big hitters' from both sides of the argument to unite in his future Cabinet, nor the invaluable ongoing support of certain newspapers.
So Maursh and I agree on that. However....
Boris cared passionately about Brexit?
No! There is lots of evidence that he is at heart a Remainer and didn't believe a word of his own tub-thumping rhetoric.
His naked ambition prompted him to lead the Leave campaign. I think he thought his side would lose by a small margin, force David Cameron to resign due to that small margin, followed by his own coronation as Leader by adoring pro-Brexit Conservative Party members.
You feel bad for Boris? I could not help emitting a derisory snort upon reading that. He has lied to and betrayed so many people, those he's met and those he never will, with never a qualm. Your sympathy is wasted.

The way that the Tory leadership process suggests to me that splitting the vote doesn't matter. One candidate is eliminated each round. So if Gove and BJ were to split a particular section of the vote, then once one was eliminated that support would switch to the other. So Boris didn't really need to back out.

Gove standing has allowed Boris to retreat without admitting that he hadn't got a plan.

I was surprised to learn that he never went through with renouncing his US citizenship. Perhaps because the "exit tax" of 40% of his net holdings would be too much for him. At any rate, I think there were questions about his dual citizenship in the past and perhaps could be, again, should he seriously stand.

Yes, sorry, I see May has the backing of the Mail. I can't keep up with all this!

Thank you for all the responses - lots of things here that I didn't know or didn't think of. I didn't know he had dual nationality - it would be hugely unfair if this was to his disadvantage, though...

Funnily, I was reading an article, from 2007, on What became of the Bullingdon Club

The final paragraph

"Boris Johnson

The Old Etonian was a well-known figure of fun at Oxford, becoming president of the Union. Johnson, a student at Balliol College, would have liked to have been president of Buller, but Ford pipped him. Always tipped for stardom (contemporaries still think it will end in tears), he became editor of The Spectator, MP for Henley, and is one of Westminster's most notorious swordsmen"

"Notorious swordsmen"

I wish his dad had pulled out all those years ago.
Snigger