Conservative MPs are throwing their hats into the ring to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, after Theresa May announced she would be stepping down on 7 June.
Conservative MPs are throwing their hats into the ring to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, after Theresa May announced she would be stepping down on 7 June.
Mark Harper has become the latest MP to join the race - alongside James Cleverly, Kit Malthouse, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, Rory Stewart and Sajid Javid.
Sam Gyimah has become the latest MP to join the race - alongside Mark Harper, James Cleverly, Kit Malthouse, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson, Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, Rory Stewart and Sajid Javid.
Here is a list of the confirmed contenders and some who are believed to be seriously considering entering the contest.
Here is a list of the confirmed contenders and some who are believed to be seriously considering entering the contest.
Steve Baker
Backbencher
The former Brexit minister and ERG deputy chairman was elected as MP for Wycombe in 2010. He resigned as minister in 2018, along with his then boss, David Davis, stating they had been "blindsided" by the government's Brexit policy.
A former RAF software engineer and consultant, he campaigned to leave the EU before and during the EU referendum.
Speaking to the BBC after the prime minister's resignation, he said he had had "a lot of pressure" from members of the public to stand for leader.
Sir Graham Brady
Backbencher
The long-standing chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee resigned his position shortly after Mrs May's announcement and said he was considering running.
"I have been urged by a number of colleagues from across the party from inside Parliament, and outside, asking me to put myself forward as a candidate," he told the BBC. "Therefore, I have made the decision to stand down as chair of the 1922 Committee in order to ensure a fair and transparent election process."
Sir Graham, knighted in the 2018 New Year Honours, has been a Conservative MP since 1997, chairing the 1922 Committee since 2010.
James Cleverly - DECLARED
Brexit Minister
James Cleverly is a former Vice Chair of the Conservative Party who advocated Brexit before the 2016 referendum. He represents Braintree in Essex.
He stood down from his Vice Chair role in April in order to become a minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union.
Between 2008 and 2016 he represented Bexley and Bromley in the Greater London Assembly. Before joining politics he worked in magazine and web publishing. He has been a member of the Territorial Army since 1991 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in early 2015.
In an open letter, Mr Cleverly confirmed he was standing. He said he had backed Brexit from the beginning and believed remaining was "not an acceptable option".
Michael Gove - DECLARED
Environment Secretary
The former journalist, who has been MP for Surrey Heath since 2005, was a key ally of then Prime Minister David Cameron before throwing his weight behind the Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum.
He made his name as a radical education secretary, his term characterised by battles with the teaching unions.
He famously scuppered the leadership hopes of his friend and fellow Brexiteer Boris Johnson in the aftermath of the referendum, by announcing his own candidature on the morning Mr Johnson was due to launch his campaign, saying he did not think Mr Johnson was up to it. He was soundly defeated, but has announced he will try again for the leadership.
He has stayed in the cabinet, as environment secretary, to fight for Mrs May's EU deal, rather than following other Brexiteers out of the door.
Sam Gyimah - DECLARED
Backbencher
Former universities and science minister Sam Gyimah has been an MP for East Surrey since 2010.
During that time, he has served under both David Cameron and Theresa May, but late last year he became the seventh cabinet minister to resign over the government's Brexit deal.
He said a row over involvement in the EU's Galileo satellite navigation system showed how the UK would be "hammered" in negotiations over Brexit.
He said that Mrs May's withdrawal agreement was a "deal in name only".
The backbencher is backing a second referendum as part of his leadership bid, and has said he would vote to Remain.
Matt Hancock - DECLARED
Health Secretary
The ambitious MP for West Suffolk was promoted to health secretary after only a few months as culture secretary, when Jeremy Hunt became foreign secretary after Boris Johnson's resignation.
He campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum but is now seen as an ally by Brexiteer ministers, recently urging MPs to back the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
The former Bank of England economist likes to see himself as one of the most technology-savvy politicians at Westminster and was the first MP to have his own smartphone app. In launching his candidacy for the top job, he said he hoped to appeal to younger voters.
Mark Harper - DECLARED
Backbencher
The MP for the Forest of Dean was a minister in the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions during the 2010-2015 coalition government.
He believes a further extension to the UK's Brexit deadline might be necessary to get a "good deal" for the country.
The former chief whip backed Remain in 2016 but now says he wants the UK to leave with a deal - although admits leaving without one is still an option.
The state-educated MP resigned as an immigration minister in 2014 after it emerged that his cleaner did not have permission to work in the UK.
Jeremy Hunt - DECLARED
Foreign Secretary
After six years at the Department of Health, Jeremy Hunt was moved to the Foreign Office following Boris Johnson's resignation.
He campaigned to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum, but has since been reborn as a Brexiteer, even suggesting, to widespread criticism, that the EU was like the Soviet Union.
An MP since 2005, he was made culture secretary under the coalition government in 2010 and moved to health after overseeing the 2012 London Olympics. He made the announcement he would stand at a meeting in his Surrey constituency.
Sajid Javid - DECLARED
Home Secretary
The home secretary is a second-generation migrant whose parents came from Pakistan. He backed Remain in the Brexit referendum but with a "heavy heart and no enthusiasm" and has never hidden his Eurosceptism.
Born in Rochdale, his father was a bus driver who reputedly arrived in the UK with £1 in his pocket. Mr Javid worked as a credit trader at Deutsche Bank before entering politics.
A former protege of George Osborne at the Treasury, he has been an MP since 2010 and has previously served as business secretary, culture secretary and communities and local government secretary. He was the ninth Tory to announce his candidacy for the leadership.
Boris Johnson - DECLARED
Backbencher
The former mayor of London has long coveted the top job. He announced he would be standing, saying "Of course I'm going to go for it."
Mr Johnson, the face of the Vote Leave campaign, quit as foreign secretary last year in protest at Theresa May's Brexit plans and has been a loud and prominent critic of her and her policies ever since.
He is popular figure with Conservative members, but has fewer fans in Parliament. His main task will be to convince enough Tory MPs to vote for him to get on to the ballot of party members.
He stepped back from the 2016 leadership fight after fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove launched his own campaign for a run at the top job.
Andrea Leadsom - DECLARED
Backbencher
A prominent Brexiteer, the former Commons leader decisively quit the cabinet as Mrs May tried to win last gasp support for her withdrawal bill. She said she no longer believed the government's approach would deliver Brexit.
She had to abandon a leadership bid in 2016 after widely criticised comments about rival Theresa May.
But she still has support on the right of the party and announced her leadership bid in the Sunday Times.
Kit Malthouse - DECLARED
Housing Minister
Kit Malthouse became MP for North West Hampshire in 2015 and is now a housing minister. He was a deputy mayor of London from 2008, serving under fellow leadership contender, Boris Johnson.
He came to the fore in the Brexit debate when his name was put to a so-called compromise plan to replace the Northern Ireland backstop with "alternative arrangements". He says he is the "new face, with fresh new ideas".
A chartered accountant who has run his own small businesses, he says that in over two decades of frontline politics, he's signed trade deals around the globe. He confirmed he was standing for the party leadership in an article in the Sun.
Esther McVey - DECLARED
Backbencher
A Brexit supporter and former TV presenter, Esther McVey quit as work and pensions secretary last November in protest at Mrs May's withdrawal agreement with the EU.
Asked on Talk Radio whether she would run for leader, the MP for Tatton, in Cheshire, said: "I've always said quite clearly that if I got enough support from colleagues then, yes, I would, and now people have come forward and I have that support."
She was the first to confirm she would stand for the party leadership.
Penny Mordaunt
Defence Secretary
Penny Mordaunt became the UK's first female defence secretary in May this year after Gavin Williamson was sacked
With a background as a naval reservist, and having served as an armed forces minister under David Cameron, Ms Mordaunt seemed well prepared for the role.
The former international development secretary was a high-profile campaigner for the Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum and underlined her pro-Brexit credentials by backing Andrea Leadsom in the subsequent Conservative leadership contest. This time around, she is touted as a contender in her own right.
Jesse Norman
Treasury Minister
Jesse Norman joined the Treasury team in the mini-reshuffle that followed Andrea Leadsom's resignation. He was formerly a transport minister and previously served as chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
The MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire has said it is "time for moderate, decent people" to speak up and stressed the need to deliver "a sane and workable Brexit".
Mr Norman, who has penned biographies on 18th century economist Adam Smith and statesman Edmund Burke, became a Parliamentary double award winner when he was presented with Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year and The House Backbencher of the Year, both in 2012.
Before becoming an MP in 2010, he was previously a director at Barclays Bank before leaving in 1997. He then had a stint teaching and researching at University College London.
Priti Patel
Backbencher
Elected as MP for Witham in May 2010, she served as a minister in the Treasury and Department of Work and Pensions before being appointed international development secretary.
She resigned from the cabinet in 2017 after disclosures she had held a series of unofficial meetings with senior Israeli figures.
But she is admired on the right of the party for her strong pro-Brexit stance.
Dominic Raab - DECLARED
Backbencher
A former lawyer and staunch Brexiteer who was calling for Britain to leave the EU long before the referendum, Mr Raab, who has been tipped for high office since being elected as an MP in 2010, became the eighth MP to confirm he would stand.
He was appointed as a justice minister in 2015 but was sacked by Theresa May when she became prime minister the following year.
After David Davis's resignation as Brexit secretary in July 2018 , Mr Raab was appointed his successor, only to resign himself in opposition to Theresa May's EU deal which he said he couldn't "in good conscience" support.
Rory Stewart - DECLARED
International Development Secretary
The international development secretary has been an MP since 2010, and has held several government roles, including prisons minister.
The politician attended Eton and Oxford University before joining the Foreign Office. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he became the deputy governorate co-ordinator for some provinces, for which he was awarded an OBE.
Alongside working as a diplomat and for NGOs, he wrote a book about his 32-day solo walk across Afghanistan in 2002, which became a New York Times bestseller.
The Remain-backing politician has spoken against the idea of a no-deal Brexit, and said he would not serve in a government led by Boris Johnson.
How the leadership contenders have voted on Brexit
The withdrawal deal Theresa May agreed with the EU has been put to the Commons three times. There have also been a series of so-called indicative votes - designed to test the will of Parliament to see what, if anything, commands a majority.
Two of the most crucial issues put to an indicative vote were, firstly, whether the UK should leave the EU without a deal if parliament fails to endorse one. And secondly, whether there should be another referendum on any deal agreed by Parliament.
The deadline for nominations is the week starting 10 June.
The deadline for nominations is the week starting 10 June.
Candidates each need two proposers. If there are more than three candidates, Tory MPs carry out a series of votes until two remain.
Candidates each need two proposers. If there are more than three candidates, Tory MPs carry out a series of votes until two remain.
Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said he hoped the process to determine the final choice to put to members would be concluded by the end of June.
Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said he hoped the process to determine the final choice to put to members would be concluded by the end of June.
There will then be a series of hustings around the UK, followed by a postal ballot of Conservative Party members.
There will then be a series of hustings around the UK, followed by a postal ballot of Conservative Party members.
The result is announced before Parliament rises for the summer.
The result is announced before Parliament rises for the summer.
