MICHAEL Gove has been accused of committing "one of the biggest acts of treachery" after betraying key ally Boris Johnson to launch a surprise bid to lead the Conservative Party.

The Justice Minister, who had widely been expected to be Boris Johnson's running mate, chose to make public his own leadership ambitions in the hours leading up to major press conference in which the former London Mayor was to unveil his campaign to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister.

In a statement, Mr Gove said he had "reluctantly" concluded that he could not support the ex-London mayor claiming Boris Johnson could not "provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead".

It had been suggested Mr Gove only told Mr Johnson of his decision to throw his hat into the ring five minutes before it was publicly announced.

Faced with accusations of treachery by angry Westminster colleagues, the Edinburgh-born cabinet minister made clear he had made his decision late on Wednesday night after consulting friends; hours earlier he had been texting colleagues, urging them to make sure they attended the Johnson launch.

One furious ally of the Uxbridge MP declared: “It is one of the biggest acts of treachery I have ever seen.” Another claimed: "Boris has been stabbed in the back."

Asked about the Justice Secretary’s actions, Boris Johnson's father Stanley likened him to the assassins who murdered Julius Caesar, saying: "'Et tu Brute' is my comment on that."

Tory backbencher and Johnson backer Jake Berry was also scathing of Mr Gove, noting: "There is a very deep pit reserved in hell for such as he."

In an interview last night, Mr Gove insisted Boris Johnson could not provide the unifying “team captaincy” Britain needed to lead it forward following the historic decision to leave the European Union.

The Scot explained that while Mr Johnson had great attributes, he was not up to the job of succeeding David Cameron as prime minister.

He said: “In the last four days I had a chance to see up close and personal how Boris dealt with some of the decisions we needed to make to take this country forward. During that period I had hoped he would rise to the occasion because inevitably when you have a leadership election, people are tested, questions are asked of them, tests are set. Boris has formidable qualities but I saw him seek to meet and not pass those tests.”

Mr Gove, who over the years has repeatedly stressed how he did not want to be prime minister and did “not have what it takes” to lead the country, was urged by colleagues to throw his hat in the ring and, reflecting on this, came “reluctantly but firmly to the conclusion that I should stand and Boris should stand aside”.

The 48-year-old Lord Chancellor stressed how he had been someone who had “consistently” argued that Britain should leave the EU, seemingly drawing a comparison to Mr Johnson, who had wavered for some time before coming down lately on the Leave side.

It was also suggested that media moguls, including Rupert Murdoch, supported Mr Gove and might have exerted some influence.

In a leaked email, his columnist wife Sarah Vine highlighted the “instinctive dislike” the press baron and the editor of the Daily Mail Paul Dacre felt towards Mr Johnson.

Dominic Raab, Mr Gove’s colleague in the Ministry of Justice, who was a keen Brexiter, penned an article for The Sun extoling the virtues of Mr Johnson as the man with the “Heineken effect” but who swiftly changed sides when the Secretary of State declared his intention to run.

With rumours flying around Westminster about a furious Gove/Johnson row about who should get which cabinet jobs, Mr Raab suggested the former London mayor had been “cavalier in the assurances he had made” to colleagues.

In an extraordinary development, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, who had attacked Mr Johnson for his "preposterous" rhetoric during the referendum campaign, unleashed a blistering broadside against the former London mayor.

Accusing Mr Johnson of having “ripped the party apart” and “created the greatest constitutional crisis of modern times,” the former deputy prime minister said: “He's like a general, who leads his army to the sound of guns and at the sight of the battlefield abandoned the field. I have never seen so contemptible and irresponsible a situation…He must live with the shame of what he’s done.”

A week of high drama at Westminster continued when at 9am on Thursday, Mr Gove released his bombshell announcement.

Two hours later and with just moments before the deadline for nominations passed, Mr Johnson appeared at a London hotel to abort his leadership bid, telling shocked supporters and journalists: "Having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me.”

Earlier, Theresa May launched her bid for No 10 with a message that the country needed "strong leadership" at a time of economic and political uncertainty and - in a clear swipe at Mr Johnson - warned that politics was not a "game".

Contrasting herself with those who enter politics out of "ideological fervour" or "ambition or glory", the Home Secretary said she was a "public service" politician who was not "showy" but could "get the job done".

Mrs May also made clear she would not attempt to back away from last week's vote to leave the EU, saying: "Brexit means Brexit."

An early test of support showed the Home Secretary already had the declared backing of more than 40 Tory MPs, including David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, who described her as a "serious, experienced politician, who could hit the ground running as prime minister from day one".

Elsewhere, Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, launched his bid, saying the vote for Brexit had "ushered in a new dawn for our country". He stressed there was no room for membership of the single market “if it entails free movement of people”.

Fellow Brexiter Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister, also declared her intention to run, meaning together with Stephen Crabb, the Work and Pensions Secretary, there are five candidates, who in the coming weeks will be whittled down to two, who will then be voted on by the 150,000 or so party members.