The timetable for the Conservative leadership contest has been confirmed, with Boris Johnson’s successor to be announced on September 5, 2022.
The early rounds of voting will be completed by the end of next week to narrow down the list of candidates to the final two. Some 160,000 members of the Conservative party will then select their preferred candidate in the final round of voting to determine the winner.
10 candidates have so far have declared that they will run, after transport secretary Grant Shapps pulled out and endorsed former chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Most candidates have thus far come forward with promises to cut income tax and/or business taxes, including chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, foreign secretary Liz Truss (who also promised to reverse April’s National Insurance hike) and former health secretary, Sajid Javid, whose planned tax cuts would amount to some £39 billion.
Another former cabinet minister, Jeremy Hunt, has set out his vision for reducing corporation tax and freezing business rates. Elsewhere, attorney general Suella Braverman has said that she would scale back the “size of the state and the civil service” to fund tax cuts of her own, as well as reforming the Welfare Bill to address the large volume of people “choosing to work part-time and have their full-time wage topped up by welfare”.
The standout exception has been Sunak, who at his campaign launch warned against economic “fairy tales” and said that it would not be credible to promise higher spending and lower taxes immediately.
Championing an approach of economic realism, Sunak talked up the need to show "honesty" with the public over spending and "responsibility" over the economy, explaining that the country needed to be taking control of inflation before tax cuts could eventually come in.
In order to eliminate outsiders in the contest more quickly, the 1922 Committee has adjusted the parameters for progression compared to previous contests, which its chair Sir Graham Brady said would prevent a “cast of thousands” from entering “who don’t really have a great prospect of progressing”.
Candidates will now require 20 nominations from fellow Conservative MPs to make it onto the ballot, compared to just eight in the previous contest won by Boris Johnson in 2019.
Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Tom Tugendhat are three to have passed the threshold of 20 nominations to make the first round, while chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has informed the BBC that he too has garnered enough support to progress.
Candidates have until 18:00 BST on Tuesday July 12 to secure 20 nominations and progress into the first round of votes.
Minister for Brexit opportunities, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has said that he will not run, and instead will focus his efforts on uniting the political right, rather than further fracturing it. Home secretary Priti Patel has also ruled herself out of entering the contest.
After the deadline for nominations on Tuesday evening, the first round of votes will start on Wednesday (July 13), with the candidates needing their 30 backers to progress further.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that he would not endorse any of the candidates to succeed him, insisting that he did not “want to damage anyone’s chances” by offering his support.
The full timetable for the Tory leadership contest is as follows:
Tuesday July 12: Initial nominations. Deadline closes at 18.00 BST and contenders must get 20 nominations to make the ballot
Wednesday July 13: First round of voting among Tory MPs
Thursday July 14: Likely date for second round of voting
Monday July 18: Likely date for third round of voting, if needed to eliminate further candidates
Thursday July 21: Deadline by which the last two candidates must remain. Party-wide voting begins.
Monday September 5: Overall winner announced
The full list of candidates for the contest so far is as follows:
- Former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch
- Attorney general Suella Braverman
- Foreign Office minister Rehman Chishti
- Former cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt
- Former health secretary Sajid Javid
- Trade minister Penny Mordaunt
- Ex-chancellor Rishi Sunak
- Foreign secretary Liz Truss
- Backbench MP Tom Tugendhat
- Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi
