Boris Johnson's leadership has come to an end after two days of chaos, which saw Cabinet members, ministers and other government aides quit their posts.
The resignations of Cabinet ministers Sajid Javid – a former leadership contender – and Rishi Sunak, viewed as a potential successor to the Prime Minister, on Tuesday night signalled the start of Mr Johnson's unravelling. The PM had sought to defy his critics and carry on in office, despite warnings from Cabinet colleagues that this was not sustainable.
Resignations continued and Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – who was only appointed to the role on Tuesday – went public with his call for the Prime Minister to quit. This morning, following a rush of new resignations bringing the total number of MPs quitting their posts to more than 50, Mr Johnson agreed to resign.
READ MORE: LIVE: Boris Johnson agrees to resign - latest updates
A No 10 source said Mr Johnson spoke to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee, to inform him of his decision. “The Prime Minister has spoken to Graham Brady and agreed to stand down in time for a new leader to be in place by the conference in October,” a No 10 source said.
But what happens when a Prime Minister steps down and how will a new leader be selected? Here's what you need to know.
What happens when a Prime Minister resigns?
Under conventions of the UK's unwritten constitution, Britain must have a Prime Minister at all times. Because of that, a standing PM will usually offer their resignation but continue to lead until a replacement is found. No 10 has said the new leader will be in place by October, when the party has its annual conference, so Mr Johnson is likely to continue as prime minister until the autumn.
Mr Johnson's resignation will automatically trigger a Tory leadership contest, but that can take several weeks to complete. Leadership contests involve arduous campaigning, jostling for positions and various behind the scenes machinations.
The contest take place in two stages. In the first stage, Conservative MPs put themselves forward as candidates. All Conservative MPs then vote in a series of rounds to reduce the number of candidates until only two remain. The second stage of the contest sees the two remaining candidates put to a vote of Conservative Party members.
Once the leadership contest is decided, the outgoing prime minister will go and the new leader voted in will become PM. There is no rule saying that the new Tory leader would have to call a general election. The next general election is scheduled to take place on May 2 in 2024.
In 2007, a leadership contest was triggered when Tony Blair resigned in June 2007. It was won by Gordon Brown, who ran uncontested. In 2016, another contest took place when David Cameron resigned as Tory party leader. Theresa May went on to win in July 2016, after Andrea Leadsom withdrew and left Mrs May as the sole candidate.
More recently in June 2019, Theresa May resigned, with Boris Johnson being elected in the leadership contest with almost twice as many votes as his opponent Jeremy Hunt.
Who will replace Boris Johnson?
Tory MPs will soon start making it known that they will stand in the upcoming election, while some have already hinted that they will. before his resignation, Attorney General Suella Braverman called for the PM to quit and confirmed that she will stand in the contest to replace him.
According to Oddschecker, the favourite to replace Boris Johnson is Penny Mordaunt. The odds tracking websites also shows former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss come close. Former Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove, who was sacked by Mr Johnson on Wednesday night, is also in the race but currently stands in the 11th spot with 27/1 odds.
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