Rupert Murdoch's influence on British politics can be seen in the latest shocking development across the pond ? former London mayor Boris Johnson's decision not to participate in the election to choose the U.K.'s next prime minister.

Johnson was widely viewed as the front-runner in the race to succeed David Cameron, who announced his resignation following a referendum in which a majority of British citizens voted to leave the EU.

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Cameron had campaigned fiercely for the "Remain" side in the referendum, while Johnson and Michael Gove ? the justice secretary in Cameron's government ? had been two of the most public faces of the winning "Leave" side. Johnson was one of the most popular politicians in the U.K. and Gove, who said repeatedly and as late as May that he would never run for prime minister, was expected to run Johnson's campaign and then receive a top position in his future cabinet.

Both Johnson and Gove are former journalists who have worked for Murdoch-owned papers (though Johnson's career at the Times was early, brief, and ignominious ), and Johnson appeared to have the support of Murdoch. On Wednesday, the Murdoch-owned Sun tabloid led with the front-page headline, "IT'S BORIS DAY."

But sources told POLITICO Europe's Alex Spence that Murdoch is actually much closer to Gove than he is to Johnson:

"The justice secretary ? like Johnson a former journalist on Murdoch’s Times ? may be even closer to Murdoch than Johnson, say others close to News Corp.

"Gove regularly attends private dinners with Murdoch and his inner circle, and was a guest with his wife Sarah Vine (a Daily Mail columnist) at Murdoch’s wedding to the actress and model Jerry Hall in London in March."

A leaked email written to Gove by Vine in which she urged her husband to secure guarantees from Johnson before signing on to a Johnson government argued that a central problem was that Johnson is "instinctively disliked" by both Murdoch and Paul Dacre, the editor in chief of The Daily Mail.

Then, on Thursday morning, Gove announced that he would run for prime minister and said that Johnson was unqualified. A few hours later, Johnson announced that he would not run in the election.

Asked about the election two days earlier, Murdoch had reportedly said , "I'd be happy for Michael Gove to get it."