If Boris Johnson resigns, Conservative MPs and members will hold a leadership contest to choose a new leader. That leader will become the new Prime Minister without a general election.
Johnson has previously ignored calls for his resignation, but currently faces huge pressure from his own Government. Johnson survived a vote of confidence on June 6, but has since seen two of his cabinet ministers resign.
On Tuesday evening Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid both quit their roles. The pair shared their letters of resignation to the PM on Twitter within minutes of each other.
Read More: Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resign in devastating blow to Boris Johnson
Potential frontrunners to replace Johnson include Mr Sunak, Jeremy Hunt, Liz Truss, Nadhim Zahawi, and Ben Wallace. Sunak has become favourite, according to betting aggregator OddsChecker.
Should a contest be triggered, the candidates who put themselves forward will be whittled down to two by a series of votes among Tory MPs. The winner will then be chosen from those two by a ballot of party members.
Johnson faced many calls for his resignation after the Partygate scandal, when he was fined for breaking his own lockdown rules in Downing Street in June 2020. Top civil servant Sue Gray's report laid bare the rule-breaking that took place in Downing Street in May this year.
Further calls for the PM to step down were heard from his own party just days ago as the Conservatives suffered a historic by-election defeat. Johnson did not bow to pressure.
Johnson first came into power when Theresa May resigned in 2019, leaving the Tory party to choose a Prime Minister through a leadership election. Johnson was announced as PM on July 23 2019.
The next general election is due to take place by January 2025. It could be triggered at an earlier date by the Prime Minister.
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