The Tory leadership election is heating up as a new prime minister is set to be chosen next week following Liz Truss' bombshell resignation.
Conservative MPs wanting to throw their hat in the ring have until 2pm Monday to put their names forward. Hopeful candidates must be supported by 100 colleagues to enter the race.
In her resignation speech on Thursday, Ms Truss announced she would stay on as prime minister until her successor is chosen. This means the PM will stay in Downing Street through the leadership election.
The first ballot of MPs will then be held between 3.30pm and 5.30pm on Monday – if there are three candidates with the required number of nominations the loser will be eliminated, Wales Online reports.
Tories have begun taking to TV and radio to build support for their preferred candidates.
John Lamont has appeared on BBC Breakfast in support of Penny Mordaunt, followed by MP Crispin Blunt and MP Paul Bristow. Gloucester MP Richard Graham is appearing on Times radio, followed by MP Bob Seely, supporting Ms Mordaunt.
Sir Christopher Chope is appearing on TalkTV backing Boris Johnson followed by Steve Double, an MP supporting Rishi Sunak.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to record a video interview with journalists in London on Friday morning giving his latest take on the situation.
Once there are two candidates remaining, an indicative vote will be held so that the party membership knows which is the preferred option among MPs.
Members will be able to take part in an online vote to choose their next leader and the country's prime minister with the contest due to conclude by October 28.
The rules appear designed to encourage the candidate who finishes second to stand aside for the winner, ensuring the new leader has the support of the majority.
Tory grandee Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, however, said it was important that the new leader commanded as much support as possible among the MPs.
"It is the Members of Parliament who have to work with a prime minister and I think it is very, very important that as many Members of Parliament are satisfied with the candidate," he told BBC2's Newsnight.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell has said the Tory politicians needed to stop "establishing tribal gangs who support a particular leader so that they can get a job in the Cabinet or Government regardless of their abilities".
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Mitchell said: "This unedifying way of conducting politics is harming the business of government and indeed the country."
Ms Truss' resignation on Thursday after just 44 days in office brings to an end the shortest premiership in British history.
It followed weeks of financial and political turmoil in the wake of then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's calamitous £45 billion mini-budget giveaway which led to a collapse in support for Ms Truss among Tory MPs.
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