Rishi Sunak has official declared his bid to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister.
The ex-chancellor has already passed the threshold of 100 nominations that candidates need. Allies of Boris Johnson claim he has also passed this threshold although that cannot be independently verified because some of these apparent backers are yet to make public statements.
Mr Sunak is now in pole position among MPs and could be PM by Friday - or even Tuesday. This is unless his bid is scuppered by a comeback attempt from Boris Johnson, The Mirror reports.
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Several former Boris Johnson-backing MPs swung behind Mr Sunak after he warned - accurately - that Liz Truss’s package of unfunded tax cuts would cause chaos on the markets. Little is known about his plans this time round as the public finances have changed dramatically in the 44 days Liz Truss was Britain’s shortest-serving PM.
Mr Sunak is being challenged by Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt.
Allies of Mr Johnson claimed on Saturday he had passed the 100 backers he needed - but Sunak-backing MPs dismissed this as “bluffing” and a “desperate” bid to keep up momentum.
Ms Mordaunt had only just over 20 public backers by Saturday lunchtime, suggesting she would have to drop out.
Ms Mordaunt backer Heather Wheeler told Sky News she had "way more" than 20 MPs pledging for her but would not say how many. A source on the Mordaunt campaign told the Mirror the situation was "still very fluid”.
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