How the Conservatives are choosing their new leader

The Conservative leadership contest is now well under way.

Rishi Sunak formally stood down after leading the Tories to their worst performance at a general election, but has stayed on as acting leader until his replacement is chosen.

That person will be the sixth Tory leader in less than eight and a half years.

Each candidate needed the support of at least 10 MPs to get on to the ballot, including a proposer and seconder. MPs could nominate only one candidate per round of voting.

This was a much lower bar than during the last leadership election in 2022, when hopefuls needed the backing of 100 MPs. Mr Sunak was the only one to enter the race with that level of support and so became the party leader.

There are currently 121 Tory MPs, but those who are also whips or sit on the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee can not nominate a candidate.

Candidates have been told they will each need to raise £200,000 for the party to progress to the final four.

On 29 July, the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee announced six contenders had met the requirements.

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins ruled herself out of the race. Former home secretary Suella Braverman said she had also decided not to run for leader as “most of the MPs disagree with my diagnosis and prescription”.

A three-month campaign began when nominations closed on 29 July.

That gave the six candidates the summer parliamentary recess to start making their cases to their fellow MPs and Conservative Party members.

On 4 September, two days after Parliament returned, a first round of voting among Conservative MPs reduced the field from six to five contenders, with former home secretary Priti Patel – in last place – eliminated from the contest.

On 10 September, five will become four when Tory MPs vote again. The candidate who finishes last will again be knocked out.

The final four will be given a number of opportunities to speak directly to Conservative members at the party’s conference in Birmingham between 29 September and 2 October.

The precise details of this “beauty parade” have still to be finalised, but the leadership contest will dominate the conference.

Hustings and two further rounds of voting at Westminster will follow on 9-10 October, leaving only two contenders.

Assuming no one pulls out and two remain, Conservative members will then select which one they want as their new leader.

Party members will be able to cast their vote between 15 October and 31 October.

They will make their choice via secure online voting, though this system has previously been criticised for its susceptibility to hackers and rogue state interference.

In recent years, party members have tended to pick the more right-wing candidate of the final two. In the first of two leadership elections in 2022, Mr Sunak consistently won more support from MPs than Liz Truss during each round before party members had their say.

To be eligible to vote, party members must have been active for 90 days before the ballot closes and must have been party members when nominations opened.

The new leader of the Conservative Party will be announced on 2 November – at which point Mr Sunak will formally hand over.

The winner will become the official leader of the opposition and the figurehead of the Conservatives’ efforts to rebuild the party.