step aside

As Bump notes, "their confirmations were never going to be easy, but Gaetz’s withdrawal both increases the amount of scrutiny that they face and establishes a precedent under which scandal-marred candidates step aside."

But a source close to Nicoll told BBC Scotland News that she felt there was an "underlying inference" in the phone call that he wanted her to step aside.

Mr Welby had previously resisted calls to step aside over his response to the case since 2013.

“The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.”

Pelosi told the New York Times: "The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary."