A No 10 spokesman said: “The prime minister will make a statement to the country today.”
He is expected to remain as PM until the autumn when a new leader will be elected, likely at the party conference in October.
Who elects the new leader?
If a Conservative leader resigns, this triggers a contest for a new party leader.
This happened in 2019 when Theresa May triggered an election when she stepped down in May of that year with this tearful speech.
The election takes place in two stages.
In the first stage (shortlisting), Conservative MPs put their own names forward. MPs then vote in a series of rounds to whittle down the candidates. In the first two rounds, the candidates who don’t meet a certain threshold of votes are eliminated. For all subsequent ballots, the candidate who comes last is eliminated, until there are only two candidates remaining.
In stage two, the party membership is balloted on which of the two final candidates they prefer.
The timescale for each contest is set out by the 1922 Committee.
New leadership contenders
According to the latest odds, Rishi Sunak remains joint-favourite to succeed Johnson as leader of the Conservatives.
Sky Bet will pay out £4 for every £1 placed on either Sunak or Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt to be the next Tory leader.
Mordaunt is viewed in the party as having strong pro-Brexit credentials, charisma and good leadership qualities.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and new Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi make up the rest of Sky Bet’s top five contenders to replace Johnson.
Prime ministers with the fewest days in office
Boris Johnson’s term in office is one of the shortest.
According to the National Archives, he will have had the seventh-shortest span in office, behind Gordon Brown and Neville Chamberlain.
Even Theresa May, the PM Boris successfully booted out of Number 10, lasted longer.
Related Links
- Rishi Sunak has resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Boris Johnson told ‘in person’ of Chris Pincher allegations in 2019, senior civil servant claims
- Chris Pincher: There is no current investigation into alleged groper, PM’s spokesperson says
- Sir Keir Starmer categorically rules out rejoining the European Union
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