bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Bloomberg

The race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May has started and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is the early favourite. But Tory leadership contests are curious beasts in which front-runners often don’t win. Here’s a guide to how it works.

The rules
Candidates need to be nominated by eight members of parliament – a higher bar than previously. Nominations open and close on Monday.
Conservative lawmakers then vote in a series of secret ballots to knock out the least popular candidates; sometimes candidates withdraw themselves.
Ballots continue until a shortlist of two emerges. Voting is scheduled for June 13, from 10am to 12pm, and then June 18, 19, and 20.
The final pair then take part in hustings around the country from June 22.
The Conservative Party’s estimated 160,000 members mail in their votes. The process wraps up in the week of July 22.
May remains as prime minister until the successor is chosen.
UK leadership race: can Hong Kong-born Rory Stewart beat US-born Boris Johnson?
The membership
As well as convincing colleagues in parliament to back them, candidates must keep the party membership onside.
Delivering the first can mean falling foul of the second, just as appealing to the membership amounts to nothing if the candidate is left off the final shortlist.
According to research conducted by academics at The Queen Mary/Sussex Party Members Project, 64 per cent of card-carrying Tory members are men, and 48 per cent are over the age of 65.
Significantly, 86 per cent regard leaving the European Union as the most important issue facing the country, according to the December analysis.
A separate poll showed two-thirds of Conservative members back a no-deal exit.
Given those views, it’s not surprising ministers have been highlighting their Eurosceptic credentials in recent weeks.
Johnson said on Tuesday the party faces extinction if it doesn’t deliver Brexit on October 31, the latest deadline.
He’s says a no-deal exit must be an option. Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is also taking a hardline approach.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt campaigned to remain in the EU in 2016 but has since changed his mind and has frequently praised the economic opportunities of Brexit.
Likewise Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Health Secretary Matt Hancock are both converts to the Brexit cause; it’s seen as a given that the next prime minister, unlike May, must be a bona fide Leaver.


Beyond Brexit
Although the majority of members see Europe as the key issue, a significant minority are focused on immigration and asylum, and others on the economy.
Longer term, many Conservatives realise the party needs to appeal more to younger and more ethnically diverse audiences.
The Tory-supporting Onward research group highlighted that only 14 per cent of people between the age of 18-24 would vote for the party now, compared to 62 per cent for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. Among over-65s, 56 per cent lean Tory and 24 per cent Labour.
The Tories will also find electoral success difficult if they completely alienate Remain supporters in both the party and the country.
Dangers abound
In the last Tory leadership race, Michael Gove effectively destroyed Johnson’s campaign by dramatically withdrawing support for his fellow Brexiteer and announcing his own candidacy.
Although an extreme case, it was a reminder that any leadership hopeful must navigate pledges of loyalty, which the same MP can make to several candidates in exchange for the promise of a future role in government.
On the flip side, duplicitous candidates may offer the same plum job to more than one MP.




Beware the beauty contest
A large field is often an indicator that some MPs are using the contest to set out ideas and to demonstrate their popularity – rather than harbouring ambitions to actually win. As junior “cleanskins” are trying to boost their profile, those higher up the ladder are competing for senior positions in the next administration.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox stood for the leadership in 2005 and 2016, both times securing Cabinet positions.
This time, Fox is backing Hunt. Two outsiders, Kit Malthouse and James Cleverly, have already withdrawn because of lack of support.

Quiet chats
Some candidates have been working the House of Commons tea rooms and bars for years preparing for a future leadership bid, listening to colleagues’ concerns and – crucially – learning the names of obscure rank-and-file MPs who rarely get on TV.
For those coming late to the process, it is considered bad form to suddenly ring colleagues asking for their support; the key is to send an outrider to invite potential backers for a quiet chat.
Gaffes and skeletons
In 2005, front-runner David Davis’s chances were thwarted by a series of missteps, including campaigning with young women in tight T-shirts emblazoned with “It’s DD for Me”.
His wife Doreen’s tabloid newspaper interview revealing how Davis ignored her didn’t help, and at the party’s annual conference his lacklustre speech allowed relative newcomer David Cameron – who spoke without notes – to shine. Cameron won 68 per cent of the members’ votes.
An ill-judged remark also decided the 2016 race, after Cameron quit after the Brexit referendum.
The final two candidates were May and Andrea Leadsom, with some seeing the latter as the more obvious choice because she’d campaigned to leave.
But Leadsom was forced to withdraw after clumsily suggesting that being a mother made her a better candidate – May had previously spoken publicly about her unsuccessful desire for a family.
Leadsom is sticking more closely to her Brexit script this time around.
Additional reporting by Reuters


US-UK deal slashes tariffs on medicines, boosting NHS spending

UK finance minister says did not mislead public on latest budget

UK’s Reeves unveils tax plan amid embarrassing budget leak

Hard-right UK politician jailed for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements

Brexit

Brexit Britain: how the Tories will pick PM Theresa May’s successor

Larry, the Downing Street cat, sits outside the front door of 10 Downing Street, London. Photo: Reuters

Conservative MP Boris Johnson leaves his residence in south London on May 28, 2019. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 28, 2019 Britain's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Michael Gove goes on a morning jog in west London on March 28, 2019. - The race to become Britain's next premier heated up on May 26, 2019 as Environment Secretary Michael Gove joined an already crowded field of hopefuls with competing visions of how to finally pull their divided country out of the EU. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

UK leadership race: can Hong Kong-born Rory Stewart beat US-born Boris Johnson?

Former British foreign secretary Boris Johnson (left) and Britain's International Development Secretary Rory Stewart (right). Photo: EPA/ AFP

epa07589271 Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, Rory Stewart arrives for a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Britain, 21 May 2019. Media reports on 21 May 2019 state that following the Cabinet meeting ministers have agreed to Theresa May's plan for her Withdrawal Agreement Bill, including compromises intended to attract the support of Labour Memebers of Parliament and which will be put to Parliament in early June. EPA-EFE/VICKIE FLORES

Brian Stewart CMG (27 April 1922 – 16 August 2015) was a British soldier, colonial official, diplomat and the second-most senior officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service. He was based in Hong Kong and China.

Britain will have new prime minister by July 26 as Tories change rules to speed up leadership race

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after giving a news briefing in Brussels, Belgium, in March. Photo: Reuters

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 file photo, British Conservative Party Member of Parliament Boris Johnson speaks at a fringe event during the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre, in Birmingham, England. Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement that she will leave 10 Downing Street has set off a fierce competition to succeed her as Conservative Party leader _ and as the next prime minister. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation in emotional speech

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation outside 10 Downing Street in central London. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 file photo, British Conservative Party Member of Parliament Boris Johnson speaks at a fringe event during the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre, in Birmingham, England. Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement that she will leave 10 Downing Street has set off a fierce competition to succeed her as Conservative Party leader _ and as the next prime minister. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation outside 10 Downing street in central London on May 24, 2019. - Beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will resign on June 7, 2019 following a Conservative Party mutiny over her remaining in power. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP)

News

World

Europe

Theresa May steps down as Conservative leader on Friday
First round of voting among the party’s lawmakers to elect successor will take place next week


The race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May has started. Here’s how Tory leadership contests work.


Britain

Theresa May

Explainers

Brexit Britain: how the Tories will pick PM Theresa May’s successor

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Theresa May steps down as Conservative leader on Friday First round of voting among the party’s lawmakers to elect successor will take place next week

The rules

Theresa May steps down as Conservative leader on Friday

First round of voting among the party’s lawmakers to elect successor will take place next week