Leading Conservative Party officials have announced what date the next Prime Minister will be announced. Boris Johnson's replacement will be revealed after a vote among Tory members - under rules that were agreed by the political party today (July 11).
On Wednesday (July 13), Conservative ministers will begin the process of voting in a new leader. It will come following a meeting of the 1922 Committee executive, where the chairman Sir Graham Brady said nominations will open and close on Tuesday (July 12).
A postal ballot of party members will then determine who wins from the final two candidates, who will be selected under an expedited process to narrow down the 11 candidates who are in the running so far. While the date of the postal ballot has not been announced, Sir Graham said the result would be announced on September 5.
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To stand a chance at being voted as leader, candidates will need to the support of 20 MPs. Following Wednesday, any candidate who fails to get at least 30 votes is expected to drop out.
There will then be another ballot on Thursday (July 14), with more to be held next week, until all the potential candidates have been whittled down to a final two. From there, the pair will go forward into a postal ballot of party members.
Addressing the process, Sir Graham said the final result would be announced on September 5, the date when MPs return to Westminster after their summer break. He said it was a “perfectly reasonable” timetable that would allow hustings to take place around the country over the summer.
Last week, Mr Johnson finally accepted political defeat and resigned from his role as Prime Minister. The Tory leader was rocked by scandal after scandal during his time in charge of the country.
On July 5, his Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak both handed in their resignations within 10 minutes of each other over the Mr Johnson's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a senior MP. Shortly after, an unprecedented string of resignations began pouring in from his Government.
Come Wednesday, July 6, Mr Johnson made it clear he had no intention of quitting and remained defiant. That evening, a group of remaining top cabinet ministers, including once-loyal allies such as Grant Shapps and Brandon Lewis, reportedly met the PM to tell him his time at Downing Street was up.
By Thursday morning, July 7, those two resignations had increased to 50, as more and more members of the Government quit - including Education Secretary Michelle Donelan, who had only been appointed her new role Tuesday night - forcing the PM to succumb to the inevitable.
Mr Sunak and Mr Javid are among the candidates who have confirmed they will be standing for election. The other Tory MPs who have declared they will stand are Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Rehman Chishti, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.
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