Michael Gove says he is standing down from frontline politics as he backed Rishi Sunak to become prime minister.
The former education secretary backed Mr Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson in a piece for The Times.
Mr Gove was sacked as levelling up secretary last month by the outgoing prime minister for disloyalty, with a Number 10 source branding him a "snake".
Having decided not to run in the Conservative leadership contest, Mr Gove initially backed Kemi Badenoch but has now thrown his weight behind former chancellor Mr Sunak, having described rival Liz Truss ' campaign as a “holiday from reality”.
However, whoever replaces Mr Johnson as PM is unlikely to be able to call on the 54-year-old to serve in their cabinet after he declared that he would be returning to the backbenches.
Mr Gove, who famously derailed Mr Johnson's bid to become leader in 2016 when Theresa May became prime minister, wrote in The Times : “I do not expect to be in government again. But it was the privilege of my life to spend 11 years in the cabinet under three prime ministers.
“I am deeply concerned that the framing of the leadership debate by many has been a holiday from reality.
“The answer to the cost of living crisis cannot be simply to reject further 'handouts' and cut tax.”
Mr Gove went on to suggest that Ms Truss' proposed national insurance cuts would favour the wealthy and that any reduction in corporation tax would benefit big businesses over small entrepreneurs.
And he called for the Government's response to the cost of living crisis to focus on the poorest in society over “safeguarding the stock options of FTSE 100 executives”.
While Ms Truss is generally thought to have established a large lead in the leadership race, Mr Gove said he did not accept the “SW1 consensus” that the foreign secretary had already secured the keys to Number 10.
Among Ms Truss' policies that came under fire from Mr Gove were a plan to provide new grammar schools, which he said there was no money to build.
He also defended Mr Sunak's tax rises during his time as chancellor, saying they were necessary due to the impact of the Covid pandemic.
Mr Gove's backing was welcomed by the Sunak campaign, with a spokesperson saying in quotes reported by the Daily Mail : “Delighted to have the support of a party and Cabinet veteran who has intellectual heft and shown the radical reforming zeal in every job he has had, that we now so desperately need.”
