How the Tories elect a new leader
Click here to view this content.
At the end of July, six candidates announced they were running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party.
Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick, Priti Patel, Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride threw their hats into the ring, each hoping to win over their fellow MPs and Tory members in the race to replace Rishi Sunak.
Dame Priti was the first candidate to be eliminated from the race, receiving just 14 votes. Mr Stride was eliminated on Sept 10, receiving just 16 votes, 17 behind Mr Jenrick, who now been the front-runner in both votes.
Here, The Telegraph explains how the Conservative leadership contest works.
How were the nominations decided?
Each of the candidates needed to have the support of at least 10 MPs to make it onto the ballot. MPs could only nominate only one candidate per voting round.
All candidates needed to have a proposer and a seconder among their 10 backers, and also had to prove they could raise £200,000 for the party.
What is the 1922 Committee?
The 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers is a highly influential group, the leader of which has a key role in the leadership contest.
The committee plays a big part in the handling of no-confidence votes in party leaders as well as leadership elections.
Sir Graham Brady stood down as its chairman at the election, and was replaced by Bob Blackman, the MP for Harrow East. Mr Blackman will oversee the race and was part of the small group that decided on the rules and timeline for the election.
This year, Mr Blackman announced a “yellow card” system for candidates and their campaign teams, with any found to attack a rival to be penalised and given a public dressing down.
Who votes for the new leader?
The first two rounds of voting involved MPs casting ballots in support of their favourite candidate.
Following the elimination of Dame Priti and Mr Stride, four remaining MPs will put their case to the party at the Conservatives’ conference at the end of this month, in a so-called “beauty parade”.
There will then be several hustings and votes after the conference over the course of three days. In the second week of October, MPs will vote again, resulting in a final two who will then face the membership vote.
The vote of members will take place online and will close on the afternoon of Oct 31. Those who had been a member of the party for 90 days or more ahead of the ballot closing date will be eligible to vote. The new leader will be announced on Nov 2.
