Ben Wallace rules himself out of leadership race. The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has ruled himself out of the Conservative leadership race.

He said: I think you really have to want it as prime minister to do that job, you have to really think it’s the job for you.

For me, I feel that I can have the best value in keeping people safe at defence by being the defence secretary. It’s the job that I have been doing and it’s the goal I intend to stay doing, so I’m not going to be standing for prime minister this time.

He did not publicly back anyone for leader but said he is “leaning towards” Boris Johnson. He said:

I have to recognise the issue of the mandate. This will be potentially our third prime minister since a general election 2019. That means we have to think about that legitimacy question that the public will be asking themselves, but also about who could win the next election. That’s obviously important for any political party at the time.

Contenders to succeed Liz Truss have until 14:00 on Monday to gather the support of 100 MPs to run.

The fast-tracked contest will see a new PM declared by next Friday.

The decision will be in the hands of Tory MPs and possibly party members too.

Nobody has announced their intention to run yet - but Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt are seen as contenders.

A comeback by Boris Johnson, who resigned in July following a series of scandals, is also a "real possibility", according to the founder of ConservativeHome.