The politicians with the most influence over the City's future are rallying around former chancellor Rishi Sunak as the next prime minister, as ex-premier Boris Johnson officially rules himself out of contention for another run at the top office.

Mel Stride, chair of the influential Treasury select committee, Guy Opperman, the respected former pensions minister, and Jesse Norman, the ex-Barclays director who served as financial secretary to the Treasury during the pandemic, all came out in favour of Sunak over the weekend, as a two-way race to become the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister emerged between the Goldman Sachs alum and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.