The point that I made in the article is that if any of us lapse sometimes from standards that we uphold, that is human. The thing to do is not necess… - Michael Gove

I have repeatedly said that I do not want to be prime minister. That has always been my view. But events since last Thursday have weighed heavily with me. I respect and admire all the candidates running for the leadership. In particular, I wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future. But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.

We'd have £350m a week extra to spend on our priorities, we'd be able to set our own laws, vary our own taxes [and] cut our own trade deals

As I look back on that time, I think that there were mistakes that I made... I also think that my initial instinct that I was not the best person to put themselves forward as a potential prime minister, well most of my colleagues agreed.