Conservative leadership race: The battle to secure votes
The race to No 10 is heating up as today will see the first round of Conservative leadership hopefuls battle to secure their colleague’s votes.
There are now eight candidates who have made it onto the ballot paper – they will need at least 30 votes to stay in the race to become the next leader of the Tory party – and therefore the next prime minister.
Today’s vote is the first in a series of secret ballots over the next few days until the race is thinned out and there are just two candidates left.
The eight candidates on the ballot are Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.
The 30-vote threshold – which was introduced to narrow the field as quick as possible – could see a number of candidates knocked out today.
Wednesday’s vote takes place between 13:30 and 15:30 – results are expected at 17:00 BST.
Candidates will also appear at two further husting events, as the race to secure endorsements heats up.
It comes as
- Rishi Sunak has the most Tory MPs backer so far – including Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps.
- Liz Truss has been endorsed by Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.
- Jeremy Hun’s campaign has rejected an accusation from Ms Dorries that Mr Sunak’s team lent nominations to make sure he got on the ballot paper.
The race for No 10 has laid bare Tory divisions over taxations, with a number of candidates attacking the rise in taxes under Mr Sunak’s chancellorship.
All the contenders are pledging to bring in immediate tax cuts if they win – unlike Rishi Sunak who says cuts should wait until inflation foes down.
The timetable to elect a new Tory party leader and PM
Now the candidates have made it onto the ballots and we officially have our starting 8 – here’s a rundown of what comes next.
How will voting work?
The first round starts today Wednesday 13 July between 13:30 and 15:30 – results will be announced around 17:00 BST.
In the first round, anyone with fewer than 30 votes will be eliminated.
There will be several rounds of voting, with the candidate with the fewest being eliminated each round.
When a candidate is eliminated they and their supporters tend to hitch their campaign to a fellow hopeful who is still in the race.
This manner of voting continues until there are just two candidates left.
It’s expected this could be completed before Parliament goes into summer recess on Thursday 21 July.
The final two candidates will contest a vote among the 200,000 Conservative Party members. This tiny section of the population will decide the next PM.
The two final candidates will travel the country and rally support at hustings. They will have a budget of £300,000 (excluding travel) to spend on the campaigns.
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When will there be a new PM?
Tory members will vote for their next leader in September, with the winner announced on 5 September.
The winner is expected to enter No 10 the following day.
They will remain in the top job until the next general election, which is currently set for December 2024, unless they decide to call an early election.
