Boris Johnson has pulled out of the Conservative leadership race and WON’T be the new Prime Minister, despite support from fellow Tory MPs to see him back as PM.
Rumours had been swirling that Mr Johnson would return to his former job after Liz Truss resigned after just 44 days, making her the shortest-serving Prime Minister in history.
It’s now widely expected that Rishi Sunak, former Chancellor, will be announced as the new PM, as he has a commanding lead over Penny Mordaunt.
Mr Johnson’s withdrawal from the leadership contest has turned it into a two-horse race.
Both will need to have the support of 100 MPs by this afternoon – Mr Sunak has already reached this target.
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Boris Johnson has pulled out of the race to find the new PM. Credit: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
If either of them has fewer than 100 supporters, the other will automatically be named the new leader of the Conservative party.
Mr Johnson said, withdrawing from the leadership contest last night, that it was ‘simply not the right time’.
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He said that although he believes he stood a ‘very good chance’ of getting back into Downing Street, he couldn’t ‘govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament’.
His statement also added that he has ‘much to offer’ and is ‘well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024’, while stressing that an earlier general election would be ‘disastrous’.
Since his resignation, Ms Mordaunt said: “In taking this difficult decision last night @BorisJohnson has put country before party, and party before self. He worked to secure the mandate and the majority we now enjoy.”
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We should put it to good use, and I know he will work with us to do so.
In taking this difficult decision last night @BorisJohnson has put country before party, and party before self. He worked to secure the mandate and the majority we now enjoy.
We should put it to good use, and I know he will work with us to do so.
Mr Johnson’s full statement reads: “In the last few days I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that I should once again contest the Conservative party leadership, both among the public and among friends and colleagues in parliament.
“I have been attracted because I led our party into a massive election victory less than three years ago – and I believe I am therefore uniquely placed to avert a general election now.
“A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country.
“I believe I am well placed to deliver a Conservative victory in 2024 – and tonight I can confirm that I have cleared the very high hurdle of 102 nominations, including a proposer and a seconder, and I could put my nomination in tomorrow. There is a very good chance that I would be successful in the election with Conservative Party members – and that I could indeed be back in Downing Street on Friday.
“But in the course of the last days I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament.
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“And though I have reached out to both Rishi and Penny – because I hoped that we could come together in the national interest – we have sadly not been able to work out a way of doing this.
“Therefore I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds.
“I believe I have much to offer but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time.”
By 2pm today, the 1922 committee will announce who has made it onto the ballot.
Featured image: Twitter, @PennyMordaunt / Flickr / Flickr
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Greater Manchester town named one of Britain’s ‘happiest’ places to live in 2026
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 happiest places to live in Great Britain for 2026 have been named, and the north is well represented.
Just as it has done for the last 13 years now, Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index, which explores exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlights the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year.
This year, thousands of residents across more than 200 locations told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community – from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlines the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
And among the top 10 happiest places to live, Rightmove has selected five northern towns for the list, including two here in the North West – and, crucially, one in Greater Manchester.
Altrincham was named the sixth happiest place to live in Britain.
Altrincham has been named one of Britain’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The Trafford town often gets its name thrown around in conversations like this, and with the variety of homes available, plenty of good local schools, great access to green space, and an ever-expanding retail environment and dining scene in the town centre – including the popular Altrincham Market, and the Stamford Quarter – it’s really not hard to see why.
Rightmove said that the average house price in Altrincham in 2025 was £643,244 and the average rental price (per calendar month) was £2,698, which does put the town up there with most most expensive in our region, it has to be said.
Elsewhere on the top 10 list, it was the popular Yorkshire town of Skipton that took the crown as Britain’s happiest place to live.
Macclesfield in Cheshire was the other North West inclusion at number seven, and then the other northern towns ranked in the top 10 are Harrogate at four and Hexham, in Northumberland, at number 10.
When it comes to the wider rankings, and the North West ranking as a whole, no other Greater Manchester town made it into the region’s top five, however Stockport did find itself in the North West’s top 10 in the sixth spot.
A sense of belonging and wellbeing, and how the environment shapes daily life were highlighted as major influencing factors on the top 10.
But Rightmove did admit that this year’s survey showed there are many different layers that combine to influence what is or isn’t a happy and fulfilling lifestyle.
“Interestingly, this year’s survey shows that our happiness with where we live often grows with age,” Rightmove said of this year’s Index.
“Residents aged 18-24 were the least likely to say they felt happy where they live. Happiness then increases through the age brackets, with those aged 65 and over being the most likely to feel happy with where they live.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
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Joey Barton officially sentenced over offensive online posts
Danny Jones
Retired footballer Joey Barton has officially been sentenced following a series of offensive posts on social media over the past year or so.
Six counts pertaining to three individuals, in particular, were highlighted when he appeared for his final hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, 8 December: online abuse directed at fellow ex-pros Eni Aluko, Lucy Ward and broadcaster Jeremy Vine.
Charged and now finally found guilty of ‘grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety’, Joey Barton has been given a six-month prison sentence – suspended for 18 months, however, meaning he won’t serve jail time unless he reoffends during this period.
Here he is queuing up outside the Crown Court earlier today:
BREAKING: Former footballer Joey Barton given six-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months over "grossly offensive" social media posts about Jeremy Vine, Lucy Ward and Eni Aluko. pic.twitter.com/dQuAAT1mQu
For context, the social media posts in question refer to the ones made on X (previously known as Twitter) and directed at the aforementioned public figures.
The former Manchester City player and Liverpool youth product, who is originally from Merseyside but is now based around Widnes in Cheshire, was found guilty on Friday despite insisting his innocence throughout.
Barton – now 43 and having become a vocal far-right commentator – compared Aluko and Ward to two of the most infamous convicted serial killers in British history, writing that they were “the Fred and Rose West of football commentary” back in January 2024.
He also labelled radio host and TV presenter, Vine, a “bike nonce” in a post that he later went on to dismiss as nothing more than “crude banter” and an attempt at “dark and stupid humour”, stating that he has no intention of actually suggesting he was a paedophile.
Elsewhere in the court appearance, Barton claimed that he is a victim of “political prosecution”; nevertheless, the judge found that the one-time England international (who also played for Newcastle, QPR, Burnley, Rangers and Marseille) “crossed the line between free speech and a crime.”
You can see the moment Judge Andrew Menary handed down the verdict, which will see him avoid time in custody once more, in full down below.
As per an official update via the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Senior Prosecutor Callum Bryce of CPS Mersey-Cheshire said: “Between early January and mid-March 2024, Barton subjected three public figures to offences of malicious communications.
“Barton said in his evidence before the court that in some of his messages he was trying to make a serious point in a provocative way and that in others he was simply joking.
“The finding of the jury confirmed that his conduct had gone beyond any joke and his messages were grossly offensive with the purpose of causing anxiety and distress to his victims.”
It’s also worth noting that he has been charged, found guilty and sentenced before already this year.
Daisy Jackson -
24th October 2022 
