BORIS JOHNSON will announce today that he will resign as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party. Mr Johnson has faced a mass revolt since Tuesday and finally accepted that he could not hold onto his position. What happens next? Here's the leadership contest timetable in
Former ally Rishi Sunak, who is tipped as a frontrunner to be the next prime minister, started the beginning of the end for Boris Johnson on Tuesday when he resigned as Chancellor. The move sparked a mass walk out as members of the Government left their jobs in protest against Mr Johnson’s leadership.
What happens now?
The Prime Minister has resigned, but he will remain in office until the Conservative Party finds a new leader.
This process will begin when Tory MPs put their names forward to become the next party leader, kicking off an internal election.
Each candidate who puts themselves forward needs the support of at least eight MPs to make the selection.
Once all the names are in the hat, a series of balloting takes place to whittle the candidates down to just two people.
When Theresa May resigned in 2019, 10 Tory MPs put themselves forward to be leader, with Mr Johnson and Jeremy Hunt making it to the final round.
In the first rounds of voting, Tory MPs vote on who they want to make it to the final round, but Conservative Party members choose who becomes party leader in the final round.
Members who are included in the ballot must have been members of the party for at least three months to take part.
How long will the leadership contest take?
The previous leadership contest in 2019 took about a month and a half to be fully concluded.
The first rounds of voting took place over two weeks, and Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt campaigned for the final ballot over a month.
It started on June 7 and was wrapped up on July 23, with Mr Johnson picking up about 66 percent of votes.
The Tory Party conference is due to be held in Birmingham in October, and MPs will want to have a new leader in place by then to make a strong start heading into the next general election in 2024.
