Conservative MP Tony Clement is ending his bid to lead the party.

In a video statement posted to his Facebook page Wednesday morning, Clement says he had goals he wanted to reach by this fall.

"Unfortunately upon review I've come to the conclusion that we really haven't met the goals as I had wanted to. Accordingly, I have decided to end my leadership campaign," Clement said.

"I make this decision not very lightly of course, but owing to the financial realities, it's very clear that I cannot expose my family to any further financial risk at this time."

Clement joined the race in July. He has several Conservative caucus colleagues running for the leadership as well, including Maxime Bernier, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Deepak Obhrai, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost. Conservative MP Steven Blaney will announce his leadership intentions next weekend, and former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander has also announced he intends to run.

Clement didn't say whether he'd throw his support behind another candidate. For now, he says, he'll focus on supporting interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose.

"I'll find another way to both help my party and our country," Clement said.

Last week, ipolitics.ca reported Clement had raised only $12,000 for his leadership campaign, while his rivals have raised tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Clement’s abrupt exit could mean the beginning of a “political Hunger Games” of sorts as Conservative leadership candidates fight to outlast each other until the May 2017 vote, according to pollster Nik Nanos.

“With so many candidates, the race is about knocking people off the campaign,” Nanos said.

There has yet to be a stand-out favourite amongst the leadership hopefuls. According to a recent Forum Research survey of 1,143 Canadians, more than half of respondents in Ontario (54 per cent) said they would prefer “someone else” than the eight candidates put forward. Quebec MP Maxime Bernier held 14 per cent of support while Clement took 9 per cent.

Kellie Leitch, whose controversial proposal to screen newcomers to Canada for “anti-Canadian values,” courted just 4 per cent of support from those surveyed.

Last week, ipolitics.ca reported Clement had raised only $12,000 for his leadership campaign, while his rivals have raised tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With a report from CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier