UPDATE - 5 Conservatives line up to be next UK prime minister

UPDATES THROUGHOUT FOLLOWING JOHNSON WITHDRAWAL

LONDON (AA) – The race to become Britain’s next prime minister was thrown wide open Thursday after Boris Johnson, the presumed front-runner, withdrew his candidacy.

Johnson, a former mayor of London and popular public figure, said he was not going to run for the governing Conservative Party’s leadership after a presumed ally, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, declared his own candidacy Thursday.

Both men were leading figures in the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Gove’s decision to run was expected to divide Conservative lawmakers who supported the Leave vote, potentially boosting the chances of Home Secretary Theresa May, who supported a vote to remain in the EU in last week’s referendum.

Johnson had already gathered the support of nearly 50 Conservative lawmakers and his withdrawal minutes before the nomination deadline came as a surprise.

Five candidates were thus confirmed to have sought nomination for the party’s leadership -- and succeed David Cameron as prime minister -- by the noon (1100GMT) deadline Thursday.

Launching her own campaign Thursday, May emphasized her working class background and her six years of ministerial experience as strong credentials for the position.

“Following last week's referendum, our country needs strong leadership to steer us through this period of economic and political uncertainty and to negotiate the best possible terms as we leave the EU,” she said.

“We need leadership that can unite our party and our country.”

Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom and former Defense Secretary Liam Fox -- both prominent supporters of Britain’s EU exit, or Brexit -- as well as Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb, who supported staying in the EU, will also seek to take over for Cameron in early September.

Under Conservative election rules, the field of candidates will be reduced to two in a vote among the party’s lawmakers next week. Party members will then choose between the remaining two.