Who could be the next Prime Minister of the UK?
Boris Johnson has resigned today which means that there will now be a leadership election to decide who will become the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister.
They will need to secure the support of Tory MPs, while the final two candidates will go to a vote of Tory members. But who are the possible candidates?
It is worth noting that most of these MPs and ministers have not yet confirmed whether they want the job of Conservative leader and prime minister – but they could be potential candidates.
These potential candidates according to the BBC are: Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Nadhim Zahawi, Jeremy Hunt, Suella Braverman, Penny Mordaunt, Ben Wallace, Tom Tugendhat and Steve Baker.
How do the Conservatives choose a new leader?
After a Conservative leader resigns, elections for a new party leader begin. Under current rules, candidates need the support of eight Conservative MPs to run.
Once all candidates have been declared – if there are more than two candidates – Tory MPs will hold a series of votes until only two remain.
In the first round, candidates must receive 5 percent of the vote to remain in the race (currently 18 MPs);
In the second round, they must get 10 percent (currently 36 deputies);
In the following rounds, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated.
When there are two MPs left, all members of the Conservative Party across the country – so not just MPs – will vote for the winner.
The time limit for each competition is set by the “Committee of 1922” of caucus MPs and the committee can vote to change the rules before the competition takes place.
How is the next prime minister appointed?
Whoever wins the race to lead the Conservatives will become the leader of the party with the largest number of MPs in Parliament.
Then the Queen will ask them to form a government.