Six candidates are vying to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the UK Conservative Party.
The leadership race was announced on July 5, when then Prime Minister Sunak announced his intention to step down as party leader following the Labour Party’s victory in the general election.
The contest, which began on July 24, is expected to last three months and Sunak’s successor is expected to be confirmed on November 2.
Sunak will remain acting party leader until a successor is appointed.
The nomination of candidates began at 7:00 p.m. on July 24 and closed at 2:30 p.m. on Monday. According to the procedure, candidates need the support of 10 colleagues to pass on.
The Conservative Party said James Cleverly (former foreign and home secretary), Priti Patel (former home secretary), Tom Tugendhat (former security minister), Robert Jenrick (former immigration minister), Mel Stride (former work and pensions secretary), and Kemi Badenoch (ex-business secretary) were confirmed for the first round of the election.
The election process in UK
Under the rules, candidates will campaign and meet with party members across the country in August.
Each candidate needs the support of at least 10 other MPs to be nominated. The list of candidates will later be narrowed down to four people who will address the Conservatives at the party’s conference in the autumn. After that, the list will be narrowed down to two candidates. Finally, there will be an election among party members and the new Conservative leader will be officially announced.
Parliamentary elections were held in the UK in July, which ended in defeat for the Conservatives. The Labour Party won 411 of the 650 seats in parliament, while the Conservatives managed to win only 121 seats. Afterwards, Sunak announced that he would step down as leader of the Conservative Party as soon as a replacement was found.
The Conservatives have been in power in the UK since 2010.
