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Tory leadership candidates likely to need eight backers Conservatives slash timetable for leadership contest
(about 2 hours later)
Several potential Conservative leadership candidates could be forced out of the running after the executive of the party’s 1922 Committee proposed that only contenders with at least eight nominations should make the ballot. The Conservatives are speeding up their leadership contest to set up a battle between two big name candidates within the next fortnight, with Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt most likely to make the final cut.
Rory Stewart, Mark Harper, Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, Kit Malthouse and Sam Gyimah are the most vulnerable of the current contenders to any such rule change. Announcing the rules, the party said candidates must declare at least eight nominations from fellow Conservative MPs by Monday in a move that will knock out some of the lesser known hopefuls.
MPs had raised concerns about the size of the field after 13 Tory MPs declared their intentions to stand in the contest to replace Theresa May, although the Brexit minister James Cleverly has dropped out of the race, citing a lack of support. All candidates will then need the votes of 17 Tory MPs – at least 5% of the parliamentary party - to stay in the first round ballot and at least 33 – or 10% MPs of the party - to stay in the second round of voting.
The environment secretary is to pitch himself as a “unity candidate” capable of attracting leavers and remainers, as he formally declared his candidacy saying: “I believe that I’m ready to unite the Conservative and Unionist party, ready to deliver Brexit and ready to lead this great country.” But robust Brexiters in particular dislike the fact that he stayed loyal even in the final days of the crumbling May regime. As she announced on 24 May, Theresa May will step down formally as Conservative leader on Friday although she will remain in place as prime minister until her successor is chosen.
The former universities minister is calling for a 'final say on the Brexit deal' as the only way to break the parliamentary deadlock. Gyimah is the only candidate offering a second referendum on Brexit, saying 'There is a wide range of candidates out there but there is a very narrow set of views on Brexit being discussed'. The rules for the contest to replace her have been tweaked by the backbench 1922 Committee, with the backing of the party’s board, in order to prevent the contest dragging on for weeks.
The health secretary remains a relative outsider, but the longer the race goes on, the more he gains ground for the seemingly basic virtues of being apparently competent and broadly similar to a normal human being, albeit a particularly energetic one. A concerted effort would probably require an image consultant. Nominations will close at 5.30pm next Monday. Candidates will have to show that they have the support of eight of their colleagues: a proposer, a seconder and six other MPs.
The former immigration minister and chief whip  was behind the controversial 'go-home' vans when working under Theresa May at the Home Office. He resigned as immigration minister in 2014after it emerged he was employing a cleaner who did not have permission to work in the UK. He later served as David Cameron’s chief whip. But he has not served in Theresa May’s government and has, therefore, sought to cast himself as the candidate who offers 'fresh thinking. MPs will hold a series of votes, in order to narrow down the crowded field, which currently stands at eleven leadership hopefuls.
Fears that the foreign secretary would be another overly woolly compromise choice were hardly assuaged when after a set-piece speech he seemed unable to outline why his brand of Conservatism might appeal to voters. Hunt has been backed by Liam Fox.  How does the voting work?
The home secretary still has the same weaknesses: he is an uninspiring speaker and some worry he is too fond of headline-grabbing, illiberal political gestures. But he is almost as ubiquitous as Liz Truss, and clearly believes this is his time. MPs choose one candidate, in a secret ballot held in a committee room in the House of Commons. The votes are tallied and the results announced on the same day.
The out-and-out favourite, so popular with the Tory grassroots that it would be hard for MPs to not make Johnson one of the final two. He has been relatively quiet recently, beyond his regular Telegraph column, but this is very deliberate. The 1922 Committee has decided that after the first round, any candidate who wins the support of less than 17 MPs, will be eliminated. And after the second round, the threshold will be set at 33 MPs.
The former House of Commons leader, who left Theresa May as the last candidate standing when she pulled out of the previous leadership race in 2016, has decided to have another tilt at the top job, saying she has the “experience and confidence” to “lead this country into a brighter future”. But even with her staunch Brexiter tendencies, she would be seen as an outsider. Rounds of voting will then continue until just two candidates remain. The first round will be held on Thursday 13 June from 10am to noon. Subsequent rounds have been pencilled in for the 18th, 19th and 20th.
The former work and pensions secretary, who quit last year over May’s Brexit plans, has launched her own in-party campaign group/leadership vehicle called Blue Collar Conservatism, promising to make the party more amenable to voters in deprived communities – mainly through a promise to deliver a strong Brexit and policies such as diverting much of the foreign aid budget to schools and police. The two remaining candidates will then be put to the Conservative membership for a vote.
Few things say “would-be leader in waiting” like a kitchen photoshoot with your spouse, and the former Brexit secretary duly obliged with this imageawash with tasteful pastel hues. He formally launched his bid in the Mail on Sunday. Among the more core constituency of Conservative MPs, Raab has been pushing hard, as has his semi-official “Ready for Raab” Twitter feed. When will the results be announced?
The cabinet’s most recent arrival – Mordaunt’s promotion to defence led to Stewart becoming international development secretary – certainly has the necessary ambition and self-belief, plus a privileged if unorthodox backstory covering Eton, Oxford, a senior role in postwar Iraq and a bestselling book about walking across Afghanistan. He remains an outsider, not least because of his remain tendencies and slightly 2010 view of compassionate Conservatism. He's become a social media darling and been endorsed by Ken Clarke, but his reputation as 'Florence of Belgravia' may hinder him. Once MPs have whittled down the field to two, Conservative party HQ takes over the running of the next stage, which it says will be completed in the week beginning Monday 22 July.
Sir Graham Brady, Penny Mordaunt and James Brokenshire are yet to declare their intentions. Liz Truss and Amber Rudd have ruled themselves out. Will there be hustings?
Among other senior figures not expected to run are Brandon Lewis, Chris Grayling and Philip Hammond. Gavin Williamson’s recent sacking after the Huawei leak inquiry will also surely rule him out as an option this time around. Yes: MPs have organised a series of events themselves to put the candidates through their paces, kicking off with an event convened by the One Nation group on Tuesday evening. Conservative party HQ will organise its own events; and the BBC has also announced several televised debates between the candidates.
James Cleverly and Kit Malthouse withdrew from the contest. Subsequent rounds will knock out the candidates with the least votes until a shortlist of two is left, in a process likely to take just two weeks with a final round of voting on 20 June.
The 1922 Committee, which will run the contest, proposed on Tuesday that only MPs with a proposer, seconder and six other endorsements should be allowed to enter the race. About 160,000 Conservative members will then cast their ballots on which of the two will be the next prime minister, with an announcement in the week beginning July 22.
Under the current rules, MPs cast rounds of votes until the number of candidates is reduced to two, at which stage there is a vote of the party membership to decide the winner. The new rules from the 1922 Committee benefit the more established candidates who have already built up support, with Johnson currently totalling almost 40 public endorsements from MPs. Gove and Hunt have about 30 public supporters each.
The new rules have yet to be agreed by the party board, but in order to get to the final two faster, the committee executive is understood to have proposed that candidates will need to win 5% of MPs’ votes in the first ballot and 10% in the second in order to progress to the next rounds. There were 13 candidates who declared they wanted to succeed Theresa May and more were expected to announce in the coming days, but two ministers, Kit Malthouse and James Cleverly, withdrew on Tuesday acknowledging they did not have enough support to make the final two.
More than 140 Conservative MPs have yet to declare who they will vote for, meaning that many of the candidates currently lacking enough endorsements might still make it on to MPs’ ballots. Cleverly said his candidacy had required MPs to take “a leap of faith, [to] skip a generation and vote for a relatively new MP” but that it was clear he did not have the backing of colleagues to progress.
Announcing he was dropping out of the race, Cleverly said his candidacy had required MPs to take “a leap of faith, [to] skip a generation and vote for a relatively new MP” but that it was clear he did not have the support to progress to the final two. Malthouse said: “The last few days have demonstrated that there is an appetite for this contest to be over quickly and for the nation to have a new leader in place as soon as possible.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Liam Fox backed the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to be the next Conservative leader, in a further splintering of cabinet endorsements in five different directions. Under the new structure, Rory Stewart, Mark Harper, Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom, and Sam Gyimah are the most vulnerable of the remaining contenders to fall out at the first round.
The international trade secretary is the first cabinet member to support Hunt, who is one of the four frontrunners alongside Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab. Matt Hancock, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid have enough endorsements to clear the first hurdle but are some way off having 10% of Tory MPs – of 33 of their colleagues. However, at least 140 Conservative MPs are still to say who they are backing, with a large rump of Tory moderates and a smaller group of the most hardline Brexiters still holding back
Some MPs had raised concerns about the number of hopefuls and time it would take to pick two leading candidates, but others are concerned that narrowing the field too fast could lead to a hasty decision without the views of the frontrunners being sufficiently tested.
Under the previous rules, MPs would have cast rounds of votes with the least popular candidate dropping out until the number was reduced to the shortlist of two.
With Johnson out in front, the race appears to be on for the second place on the ballot, with Gove and Hunt the most likely candidates.
Hunt will launch a campaign website and video on Wednesday, after having gained the unexpected backing of Liam Fox, the trade secretary, on Tuesday.
Fox, one of the cabinet’s most dedicated Brexiters, surprised some other leadership camps with his endorsement of Hunt, who has said pursuing no deal would be “political suicide” because it would lead to a general election.Fox, one of the cabinet’s most dedicated Brexiters, surprised some other leadership camps with his endorsement of Hunt, who has said pursuing no deal would be “political suicide” because it would lead to a general election.
Over the weekend, Johnson won the coveted endorsement of Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who had been touted to run herself, as well as that of the sacked former defence secretary Gavin Williamson.Over the weekend, Johnson won the coveted endorsement of Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who had been touted to run herself, as well as that of the sacked former defence secretary Gavin Williamson.
Mel Stride, the new leader of the House of Commons, is a backer of Gove, while Sajid Javid, the home secretary, won the support of the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, on Tuesday. Mel Stride, the new leader of the House of Commons, is a backer of Gove, while Javid, the home secretary, won the support of the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, on Tuesday.
David Gauke, the justice secretary, who has repeatedly cautioned against a no-deal Brexit, has endorsed Stewart, the international development secretary who was formerly a junior minister in his department.David Gauke, the justice secretary, who has repeatedly cautioned against a no-deal Brexit, has endorsed Stewart, the international development secretary who was formerly a junior minister in his department.
Stewart, who has ruled out pursuing a no-deal Brexit, has attracted media attention for his campaign, which has been based on social media videos of him meeting the public at short-notice events around the country.Stewart, who has ruled out pursuing a no-deal Brexit, has attracted media attention for his campaign, which has been based on social media videos of him meeting the public at short-notice events around the country.
Several high-profile cabinet names are yet to declare who they will back, including the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, who has been one of the most vocal cabinet voices against leaving the EU without an agreement.Several high-profile cabinet names are yet to declare who they will back, including the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, who has been one of the most vocal cabinet voices against leaving the EU without an agreement.
Rudd’s 60-strong group of One Nation Conservative MPs will hold the first of three hustings on Tuesday night for Tory candidates.Rudd’s 60-strong group of One Nation Conservative MPs will hold the first of three hustings on Tuesday night for Tory candidates.
Conservative leadershipConservative leadership
1922 Committee1922 Committee
ConservativesConservatives
Boris Johnson
Jeremy Hunt
Michael Gove
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