This morning, while Americans slept, Michael Gove, who campaigned side by side with Boris Johnson led the successful campaign for Brexit, announced that he was not, as expected, supporting Johnson for Conservative party leader and therefore prime minister, but was running himself.

“I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead,” he said around 9:30 in the morning. Two hours later, just before noon, Johnson announced that he would not run. “Having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that that person cannot be me,” he told a stunned press conference.