James Cleverly has pulled out of the race to become the new Prime Minister.

The Braintree MP has revealed he will no longer be standing to become the new leader of the Conservtaive Party in an open letter to his constituents.

Mr Cleverly unveiled his leadership bid last Wednesday where he said he believed he could deliver much needed change to the Tory party. 

But in an open letter to constituents this morning, the junior Brexit minister has revealed he will no longer be vying for the role of party leader and Prime Minister. 

In his letter, he said: "Dear Constituents,

"Last week I let you know first that I intended to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister.

"I felt that we needed to deliver Brexit and then quickly move the conversation on to other important issues that face the country.

"I had hoped that the Conservative parliamentary party would support me to be the face and voice of that conversation.

"To do this I asked them to make a leap of faith, skip a generation and vote for a relatively new MP.

"It is clear that despite much support, particularly from our party’s grassroots, MPs weren't comfortable with such a move and it has become clear that it is highly unlikely that I would progress to be the final two candidates.

"For this reason I have withdrawn from the process of selecting a new leader and will not be submitting nomination papers.

"Once again I want to thank you for the support that you give me as your local MP."

Mr Cleverly becomes the first of the 13 candidates to pull out of the race to succeed Theresa May. 

Tory MPs have until Friday to submit their bid to become the new leader. 

Former Foreign Secretary and London Mayor Boris Johnson remains the bookies favourite to win the leadership contest.