Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling has ruled himself out of the running for Prime Minister following David Cameron’s resignation.

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Mr Cameron (pictured below) said he would step down by October on Friday, June 24, after the British people voted to leave the European Union in a close referendum the day before.

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Mr Grayling was one of 85 MPs who signed Poole MP Robert Syms’ letter last week insisting Mr Cameron should stay on as PM regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

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Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Michael Gove (pictured above, left to right) are among the frontrunners to replace Mr Cameron, but former justice secretary Mr Grayling has not yet decided who he will support to succeed him.

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The leader of the House of Commons also ruled himself out of the running for Conservative party leadership.

“No, (I will not be running),” Mr Grayling told the Epsom Guardian. “I wasn’t even tempted.”

“I very much wanted (David Cameron) to stay on – I tried to persuade him to stay.

“I think he has been a good Prime Minister and I think his relationships with other European leaders would have been a positive benefit during this transitional phase.”

More than 17m people (51.9 per cent of the vote) voted for the UK to leave the EU in last Thursday’s referendum.

Mr Grayling, who backed the Leave campaign, said he was pleased with the result.

He said: “I think it is the right thing for Britain. I think it will create more opportunities for us around the world.

“The rest of the EU is heading towards much closer integration, but now I think we can be a strong, outward-facing country without being restricted by the EU.

“We will be able to do things that are right for Britain without having to be told whether we can do something or not by Brussels.”

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Mr Grayling also spoke to reassure concerned Remain voters after sterling hit a 31-year low and a petition calling for a second referendum received more than 3.5m signatures.

“Life will carry on as normal and people will carry on working, trading and buying as normal,” Mr Grayling said.

“Over the next two to three years we will go through the complete process of renegotiating what our future relationships will be and then we will leave.

“This is a journey not an earthquake.”