Michael Gove’s decision to “put the boot” into Boris Johnson and end his leadership bid has been blamed by supporters for his failure to make the final round of the contest, Ben Riley-Smith writes.

Tory backers of the Justice Secretary said his decision to betray the former London Mayor by unexpectedly withdrawing his backing, causing Mr Johnson to pull out of the race, had infuriated MPs.

They also blamed a leaked message showing his campaign was urging MPs to vote Gove to stop Andrea Leadsom had “kiboshed” his chances of becoming Prime Minster.

Critics said his behaviour during the leadership race over the last fortnight has left him “humiliated” in the eyes of colleagues and decreased his chances of winning a cabinet post in the next reshuffle.

Confirmation that he would not be the next prime minister triggered supporters and critics to blame his decision to pull support for Mr Johnson just hours before he formally launched his leadership bid, leading to claims of “back-stabbing”.

Sir Henry Bellingham, a Tory MP who backed Mr Gove, said: “I think what happened over the whole Boris saga was unfortunate. I think [Gove's] intellectual discipline and his integrity led him to be very open and frank about what happened.

“He explained to everyone whey he felt Boris wasn’t suitable … The fact that he very publicly was seen to put the boot into Boris did undermine him among a lot of colleagues.”

A second Tory MP who backed Mr Gove said a candid text message sent by his campaign manager Nick Boles urging people to support him to stop Mrs Leadsom which leaked to the media was “very damaging”.

The MP told The Telegraph: “The Nick Boles text is kiboshed Gove's chances. It undermined people’s confidence in him. It made it look as if he’s been conspiring all along. It did more damage to his reputation than anything else.”

There were also suggestions that Mr Gove could struggle to remain in the cabinet given alleged animosity between himself and Mrs May and after his campaign's attempted to undermine Mrs Leadsom.

Ben Wallace, the Tory MP who managed Mr Johnson’s campaign, told this newspaper on Thursday that it was Mr Gove’s apparent lack of trust that led to his defeat.

“The winning candidate knew that this competition was all about trust. Unfortunately it seemed Michael didn’t.

“The Tory Party and the country want a Prime Minister they will trust to deliver on the referendum result and bring a divided parliamentary party together. You don’t achieve that by playing political parlour games.”

Mr Gove has not yet revealed who he will vote for to become the next Tory leader after dropping out of the race.