Boris Johnson urged to drop comeback bid as he falls further behind rival Sunak

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Boris Johnson is under pressure within his own party to drop his bid to return to the post of Prime Minister, fearing he will pit campaigners against MPs from a way that would tarnish the Tories brand for a generation.

Withdrawing from the race to succeed Liz Truss as Tory leader would almost certainly lead to the coronation on Monday of Mr Johnson's chief rival, Rishi Sunak, who officially announced his candidacy on Sunday with a pledge of "integrity, professionalism and accountability".

The former prime minister was far behind Mr Sunak in the battle for MPs' endorsements tonight, and had proven unable to unite the right behind its banner, as totemic figures like Steve Baker and Suella Braverman set their sights on the former chancellor. He has yet to declare himself a candidate.

Penny Mordaunt has rejected Mr Johnson's plea to drop his own leadership bid and offer his support, telling him that most of his supporters would look to Mr Sunak for support anyway.

And polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice told The Independent that the ability to Mr Johnson's bid to win the election - the mainstay of his supporters' case for a second prime ministership - is no longer the gold dust it was in 2019.

The supporters of Sunak were skeptical of Camp Johnson's claim that he had the 100 MP nominations needed to be on the ballot, after only 60 made their names public.

Mr. Baker warned that a second post as Prime Minister Johnson would be a "guaranteed disaster" and would crumble before the end of the year due to the upcoming contempt inquiry into the former prime minister's alleged lies on Partygate.

He urged Mr Johnson to wait until after the conclusion of the privileges committee inquiry before attempting a return to the political front line.

And backbench MP Andrew Murrison told The Independent the time had come for Mr Johnson to throw in the towel.

"In the interest of party unity, Boris must understand that the game is over and it is not his time," said Dr Murrison, who served in the Mr Johnson's administration but quit as minister in July in protest at the conduct of the then Prime Minister.

'Standing down now would be the most worthy and dignified thing of men of state to do."

With Mr. Sunak's approvals rapidly approaching 179 f...