THE precise date when a successor to Boris Johnson will be revealed has been outlined in secret Conservative plans.
A new Tory Prime Minister will be in place by September 5, according to the timetable which is expected to be approved by the 1922 Committee executive which will meet at 5pm on Monday.
Boris Johnson’s successor will be announced by September 5
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already said he will stand
Liz Truss is expected to make her announcement to stand on Monday
Nadhim Zahawi hopes he will become the next Tory leader
Grant Shapps has announced his bid to be leader
Former health secretary Sajid Javid is also standing
The Conservative high command will be hoping to end the uncertainty caused by Mr Johnson’s resignation.
A senior party source told The Telegraph that a new leader will be elected by the party’s members within two months, September 5, shortly before their first Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons two days later.
Party officials are said to be concerned that more than 16 Tory MPs could stand in the leadership battle and are thought to be considering rushing through a rule chance to whittle down the list to just “serious candidates”.
It emerged on Friday that relatively obscure backbenchers in the party – Sir Bill Wiggin, John Baron and Rehman Chishti were considering leadership bids.
When asked why he was thinking about running, Mr Baron said: “I would be a newcomer to the contest… I will take soundings over the weekend.”
However, a senior party source told the paper: “There will be a threshold so that candidates below that threshold will not be allowed to continue.
“We want to reduce the field to serious candidates and if you can’t get a reasonable proportion of the party to support you, we don’t want grandstanders.”
Under the plans expected to be agreed by the ruling 1922 Committee and then the party board on Monday, nominations will close on Tuesday evening for any MP who wants to throw their hat in the ring.
It had initially been thought that MPs would need the backing of 10 MPs, comprising of a proposer, a seconder and eight other MPs.
However, the 1922 Committee is looking at an initial threshold of 20 MPs – a proposer, a seconder and 18 other Tory MPs to be able to enter the contest.
That move would immediately cut the numbers of MPs who can participate in the first round of voting which is set to take place on Wednesday, after which any candidate with fewer than 10 per cent of the party – 36 MPs – will drop out.
A second round of voting is due to take place on Thursday, where the last-placed MP will be forced to drop out ahead of a major 1922 hustings meeting, pencilled in for July 18 when all candidates will be grilled in private by the party’s MPs.
Further rounds of voting are expected to take place on July 19 and July 20 – where the last-placed MP will have to withdraw each time.
The final two candidates will then face a vote of members to be declared by July 21.
One of the ideas proposed is to increase the thresholds at successive rounds of voting so that anyone without the backing of 15 per cent of Tory MPs will drop out of the third round of voting, and then 20 per cent of MPs in the fourth round.
Conservative Central Office will take over the process and set up a number of member hustings’ meetings around the UK, in a similar way when Mr Johnson and Jeremy Hunt battled it out over the leadership in 2019.
Conservative Voice, which represents Tory members, started a campaign to ensure that a democratic process is followed for the election of a party leader.
Don Porter, the group’s founder, said: “Political uncertainty is no excuse for bypassing democracy and history shows us that back-room deals do not work out well.”
The group will also be hosting a number of hustings events, allowing candidates to debate the future direction of the party as well as hear directly the views of volunteers around the country.
The party’s 200,000 member will be able to vote in a postal ballot in August with the hope the new leader will be announced by September 5.
So far, Rishi Sunak, Tom Tugendhat and Suella Braverman, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Grant Shapps and Nadhim Zahawi have announced their candidacy.
Liz Truss is expected to make her announcement on Monday and Penny Mordaunt is also expected to run while Priti Patel is also considering standing.
“If you are in a position where you are not one of the favourites, the trick is to announce early and build up some momentum going into the ballot,” said one MP.
Suella Braverman is also in contention
Jeremy Hunt is also in the race to be the next Tory leader
