The ruling Conservative Party has said on Monday that a replacement for the outgoing Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, as 11 candidates are currently vying for the post.
The influential 1922 Committee of non-ministerial Tory MPs in parliament on Monday outlined a timetable for the party’s leadership election.
Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee, told reporters that nominations will officially open and close on Tuesday, with a new prime minister set to be installed when parliament returns from the summer break on September 5.
Tory MPs will trim the current list down to a final two through a series of ballots, with the worst-performing candidate eliminated after each round, before party members choose the winner.
The joint-executive secretary of the 1922 Committee, Bob Blackman, said they were committed to doing that before parliament breaks for the summer on July 21.
The first ballot will be held on Wednesday, with a second ballot likely on Thursday, said Brady.
In a bid to speed up the process, candidates must have at least 20 MPs backing them in order to enter the race, up from the usual eight, and any candidate who fails to get the support of 30 MPs in the first ballot will be eliminated.
Among those running are Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid, whose departures as finance minister and health minister sparked the wave of resignations, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Sunak’s successor Nadhim Zahawi, Home Secretary Priti Patel, Kemi Badenoch.