Explainer-in-brief: A Tory leadership election, all over again
It’s almost hard to believe it, but here we are again: today marks the beginning of another Tory leadership campaign. This one, however, has very different rules compared to what unfolded over summer.
Candidates will have until 2 p.m. today to stockpile 100 backers – which means there will be a maximum of three candidates. If they’re three, one will be eliminated this afternoon and an “indicative” vote will follow to figure out who is the favourite.
One could expect, at this point, that the least favourite of the two will stand down and that a new prime minister will be able to take post on Monday night. If this doesn’t happen, party members will vote online during the whole week, and the final result will be announced on Friday.
Over summer, candidates needed the backing of only 20 MPs to enter the race, and several ballots were cast before the race was narrowed down to the two finalists. As we all remember, it took much longer than a week.