Boris Johnson’s resignation as Conservative leader has triggered the start of the process to find his successor. Rules setting out a two-month leadership election have now been confirmed by the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs.
The Conservatives’ leadership selection system is a two-stage process. First, Tory MPs hold a series of ballots to whittle the field of candidates down to two. This usually takes one to two weeks, depending on the number of candidates. Second, the final two candidates are then offered to the party’s approximately 100,000-150,000 individual members, who make their choice in a postal ballot. A period of two to three months is usually allowed for this stage in order to enable candidates to campaign for support in regional leadership hustings and televised debates.
