Following the dramatic exodus from his government, Boris Johnson has now officially announced his resignation as prime minister.
In the wake of a tumultuous 48-hour period during which a wave of ministers resigned, he has announced his departure from Number 10. What occurs next is as follows:
According to a No. 10 source, Mr. Johnson agreed to step aside after speaking with Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee, this morning.
According to the schedule for a Conservative leadership race, a new leader should be in place by the party conference in October.
But Mr. Johnson plans to remain in No. 10 until the procedure is finished.
And this has increased the possibility that Mr. Johnson may continue to serve as prime minister for a few more weeks while a leadership election is held.
In an effort to reestablish a working government so he can continue to hold onto power for a few more weeks, Johnson has already announced fresh cabinet appointments to replace all of those who resigned this week.
However, in light of the previous 48 hours’ events, he has already encountered resistance to this strategy.
The science minister who resigned this morning, George Freeman, ruled out the possibility of Mr. Johnson staying in Downing Street for just a little while longer.
‘Boris Johnson has to give in the seals of office, apologize to Her Majesty, and ask her to call for a Caretaker Prime Minister,’ he wrote on Twitter.
He should leave today, the Ashfield MP Lee Anderson told ITV. I believe we need an interim leader with stability, perhaps Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister.
We need to get rid of the Johnson poison as soon as possible, a former minister said.
Who, if not Boris, then?
As deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab would seem to be the obvious choice to step in for Mr. Johnson while a permanent replacement is picked.
He has prior managerial experience from filling in for Mr. Johnson while the PM was receiving critical care from Covid.
The PM’s estranged former main adviser Dominic Cummings is among those who have called for Mr. Raab to succeed Mr. Johnson as soon as possible.
There has also been talk about the possibility of bringing back Theresa May as a caretaker premier for a brief period of time.
She is a party girl through and through, she is obviously not interested in running for office herself, and she would be credible, a well-placed insider told the Daily Mail. She is in a special position.
Will Boris visit the Queen today?
If someone other than Mr. Johnson is given temporary executive authority, this must be done formally.
In front of the Queen, Mr. Johnson would go to Buckingham Palace to formally resign from his position as prime minister.
He would then suggest a replacement, whether it be Mr. Raab acting in an interim capacity or someone else.
However, Mr. Johnson would not have to visit the Palace until later this summer if he is permitted to remain on for a few more weeks while a new Tory leader is chosen.
The Tory leadership race gets underway
A Tory leadership race has begun as a result of Mr. Johnson’s resignation, albeit several of the contestants have been vying for the position for some time.
The 1922 Committee sets a deadline for each round of the two-part Conservative leadership contest.
Candidates first provide their own names for consideration.
The contenders are then narrowed down by a series of votes cast by all Tory MPs.
Candidates that receive a particular number of votes are eliminated in the first two rounds.
The candidate who finishes last on each consecutive ballot is eliminated, and so on, until there are just two candidates left.
The wider Tory party membership votes to select between the last two contenders in the second round of the leadership race.
In the 2019 election, Mr. Johnson defeated Jeremy Hunt by a vote of the membership of 66% to 34%.
How long will the selection of the new Tory leader take?
The Conservative Party is likely to want a quick election because of the situation.
But it will still take a few weeks because leadership hustings are necessary before a vote of the entire Tory membership.
The contest officially started in 2019 on June 10 when nominations were accepted.
The winner was subsequently announced as Mr. Johnson on July 23, which was over six weeks later.
However, the selection of Theresa May as leader in 2016 took far less time because there was no need for a vote among the Tory membership.
This is due to Andrea Leadsom, her final opponent, withdrawing from the race just days after the Parliamentary phase of the process was over.
This time, there may be tremendous pressure on other contenders to withdraw as well in order to avoid a membership poll as a means of quickly choosing a new leader if a clear favorite develops throughout the rounds of MPs voting.
Who will likely run for the position of new Tory leader?
Each day that goes by, there are more and more possible leadership contenders on the list, many of whom have the support of many Tory MPs.
But the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Mr. Sunak’s successor Nadhim Zahawi, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, and senior backbenchers Tom Tugendhat and Tobias Ellwood are considered to be the front-runners.
Suella Braverman, the attorney general, and former Brexit minister Steve Baker have also stated that they are thinking about running.