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Sir Graham Brady has unveiled new rules for the Tory leadership contest. It comes after Liz Truss’s resignation earlier today has left a vacancy for the top job in Government, with a new PM expected to be in place by the end of next week.
Sir Graham, chair of the 1922 Committee, said candidates will need at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs.
Tory chairman Jake Berry said there would be an online vote for members if two candidates made it through the parliamentary stages.
Mr Berry said the board of the Conservative Party met at 4pm and, in conjunction with the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, had decided on the process.
He added: “We have decided that if the party should decide to put forward two candidates there would be an expedited, binding, online vote of Conservative Party members to choose its next leader.”
It comes after Ms Truss announced she was standing down after facing a revolt from her own MPs in the wake of economic turmoil sparked by the mini-budget, which spooked financial markets with its unfunded tax cuts.
She had attempted to shore up her position by sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor and parachuting Jeremy Hunt into Number 11.
But she faced fresh blows last night with the departure of Suella Braverman as Home Secretary and farcical scenes as Tories were threatened with having the whip suspended if they rebelled over fracking.
Ms Truss is set to become the shortest-serving Prime Minister in British history.
Speaking outside Downing Street this afternoon, she said she had told the King she was resigning as the leader of the Conservative Party as she recognised she “cannot deliver the mandate” which Tory members gave her a little over six weeks ago.
Her announcement followed talks Sir Graham where it became clear she could not hold on.
Ms Truss, accompanied by husband Hugh O’Leary, added: “I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.”
Her resignation has sparked a scramble among Tory hopefuls to replace her as the party’s third leader in two months.
There are even reports Boris Johnson could make a sensational comeback by throwing his hat in the ring.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ruled himself out, along with Conservative heavyweight Michael Gove.
Possible runners and riders include Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, former chancellor Rishi Sunak and Ms Braverman, who is a popular figure among the right of the party.
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