Boris Johnson to resign: What happens next?

Jack Peat

The prime minister has spoken to Tory 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady and agreed to stand down.

Prime minister Boris Johnson will stand down after speaking to the 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady.

His intentions to leave have been signalled after the PM came under relentless pressure from within his Cabinet and on the back benches.

Brandon Lewis and Helen Whately were among the MPs to hand in resignation letters this morning.

They follow Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who both quit as ministers, while Michael Gove and the new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi jointly called upon Johnson to leave.

What happens next?

Boris Johnson will publicly announce his resignation later today.

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.