Conservative leadership: What are the rules and how is the winner chosen?
Conservative leadership: How does the contest work and who chooses the winner?
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The four remaining candidates competing to become the next Conservative Party leader are Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat. Rishi Sunak formally stood down after leading the Tories to their worst performance at a general election in July, but is staying 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.
How were the Tory leadership candidates chosen?
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 could not nominate a candidate. Applicants were also told they would 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.
How did the six candidates become four?
After nominations closed on 29 July, candidates had five and a half weeks to try to impress their fellow MPs. 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 - who came last - eliminated from the contest. On 10 September, five became four, after a second Tory MP vote knocked out Mel Stride. The final four had a number of opportunities to speak directly to Conservative members at the party's conference in Birmingham.
How will the Tory leader be chosen?
