PRIME SUSPECT
What happens now Boris Johnson has resigned as Tory leader? Who is in charge as PM?
BRITAIN will have a new PM after Boris Johnson fell on his sword and pledged to stand down.
The bombshell resignation followed two days of carnage in Westminster, which saw 55 members of government step down.
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It’s the highest number of resignations any British government has experienced in 90 years.
MPs from across the Tory Party spent the last 48 hours urging Mr Johnson to call it quits.
Yesterday the PM insisted he would soldier on, but this morning he finally admitted his time is up.
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Does Boris carry on for months or does he go right now?
Mr Johnson plans to continue as PM until a new leader of the Tory party is in place for the October conference.
The choice to carry on temporarily or go straight away is up to Mr Johnson.
Conservative leadership elections are automatically triggered when a Tory PM resigns.
But Boris has decided to stay on until his party picks a new leader.
Could he be forced out?
Sir Keir Starmer has threatened to table a vote no confidence in the Commons if the PM clings on.
If a majority of MPs vote no confidence in Boris' government he will be forced to resign to the Queen.
This would then either pave the way for Dominic Raab to take over or a general election.
Will there be a general election?
There is a strong possibility that a no confidence vote in the Commons could lead to an election.
For now that has not happened.
Whoever is the Prime Minister has the power to call a general election.
When the new Tory leader moves in to No10 they could choose to trigger an early national ballot at a time of their choosing.
Alternatively the next PM can wait until January 2025, by which time a general election has to take place.
Does Dominic Raab take over as PM?
If Boris Johnson chooses to step down as Prime Minister immediately, responsibility for leading the country will fall to another minister.
There are no set rules on which minister that must be.
But it is usually the case that the Deputy Prime Minister steps up to the role.
In this case, that would be Raab, who also currently serves as Justice Secretary.
The MP for Esher and Walton if appointed would stay as PM until the Tory Party elect a new leader, who will then take over the role.
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How will the next Tory leader be selected?
Tory leadership elections take place in two stages.
The first stage involves shortlisting candidates for party chief. An MP needs the support of 8 colleagues to make the shortlist.
Once the list is complete two rounds of voting take place to shrink it.
All Tory MPs are allowed to cast votes.
Candidates who don’t meet a certain threshold in the two rounds are eliminated.
Next a further series of ballots take place and in each of these the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated until only two people remain.
Then stage two kicks off.
The entire Tory membership – not just MPs – vote for who they’d prefer of the two final names.
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The winner becomes the next PM.
Timescales for the entirety of Tory leadership elections are determined by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.
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