So much for the theory that his support for Brexit was a cynical ploy to vault Boris Johnson into the PM’s office:

Addressing reporters in a new conference just moments before the deadline for nominations passed, Mr Johnson said the next Conservative leader would have to unify his party and ensure that Britain stood tall in the world.

“Having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me,” he said.

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said it was an “astonishing turn of events”.

Mr Gove – who has pitched himself as a candidate that can offer “unity and change” and deliver the Brexit result- had been expected to back Mr Johnson for the leadership.

But he said he had concluded that “Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead”.

Justice minister and Leave campaigner Dominic Raab, who switched sides from supporting Mr Johnson to Mr Gove, said the former London mayor’s “cavalier” attitude had scuppered the plan.

Tina Brown’s read of Johnson as a “Gentleman Hack” looks all the better in the light of this latest news. I don’t know whether Johnson’s support in the party simply evaporated when they truly understood his fundamental unseriousness, or whether he simply decided he didn’t want the job if it involved the hard work of either negotiating an exit from the EU or selling British voters on changing their minds and staying in, but it doesn’t really matter. Either way, the dog that caught the car got run over.

I haven’t indulged in facile Trump-Johnson comparisons until now, but I imagine the #NeverTrump-sters will be doing so with relish, as well they should.