Boris Johnson today announced that he will resign as Prime Minister, just two-and-a-half years after he roared to victory with an 80 seat majority.
Mr Johnson has faced days of pressure to quit, with an avalanche of resignations from cabinet ministers and others in government making his position impossible. Today he finally relented and announced he would be stepping down as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister.
However, he made clear in his speech that he will not be leaving Number 10 immediately and will stay in office until a new leader is elected. So how long could this take and what is the process to replace him?
READ MORE: Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister in official announcement
New leadership election
Once a Tory leader has stood down, an election for a new party leader begins. Under the current rules, candidates need the support of eight Conservative MPs to stand in this election.
Once all candidates have declared, and as long as there are more than two candidates, Tory MPs will take part in a series of votes until the candidates are whittled down to just two. At this point, all Conservative Party members will vote in a run-off between the final two candidates, with the winner taking over as leader - and in this case, Prime Minister.
The timescale for each contest is decided by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, and the committee could vote to change the rules before the contest takes place.
New Prime Minister
Whoever wins the forthcoming Tory party leadership election will be asked by the Queen to form a government. This is because the Tories are currently the biggest party in Parliament.
So how long will Johnson stay in Number 10?
Mr Johnson intends to continue as Prime Minister until the autumn, before the Conservative Party conference.
That means he would stay in office until the Conservatives choose a new leader, as his predecessors Theresa May and David Cameron did when they resigned. However, a large number of Tory MPs have already said they would be unhappy with this and believe a deputy prime minister should take over.
If he did go immediately, the Queen could ask a caretaker Prime Minister to take over. This would most likely be a member of the cabinet.
What can he still do as Prime Minister?
This is what people are worried about. Mr Johnson will retain the same powers he had as Prime Minister as he remains in office. He has just announced some new ministerial appointments, which suggest he does intend to use those powers in this intervening period.
In reality though, he has no authority to make any major announcements or outline any new policies. But you wouldn't put him past trying.
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