The new prime minister will be unveiled on September 5, dashing the hopes of many Conservative MPs that Boris Johnson could be forced out of Number 10 early.
The Conservative Party is sticking to its expected timetable for the leadership contest after mainstream Tories appeared to resist pressure to speedily oust the prime minister.
Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said the party’s volunteers had been pushing for “sufficient hunting opportunities” across the country in August.
“We have reached a satisfactory agreement on this,” he told reporters, leaving Mr Johnson in Downing Street for another eight weeks in his “assistant” period.
Candidates will require 20 nominations to enter the race — more than the 10 needed during the 2019 leadership election — making it likely that several of the 11 candidates will fail to enter the race.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, currently has just eight backers, with former health secretary Sajid Javid and attorney-general Suella Braverman (both on 11) also trailing.
Nominations will open and close on Tuesday, with the first vote among Conservative MPs taking place on Wednesday and the second on Thursday.
Candidates will need 30 votes to advance to the second ballot – to ensure they are whittled down to just two contenders by July 21, with the final choice being made by members.
Sir Graham suggested the new prime minister would be appointed on September 5, revealing discussions with Buckingham Palace to ensure the date would not “cause unnecessary inconvenience”.
The support and policies of each of the candidates were very varied:
• With around half of the 358 Conservative MPs declaring, Rishi Sunak boasts the most supporters (38) ahead of Penny Mordaunt (24), Tom Tugendhat (20), Liz Truss (15) and Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahaoui ( both 14) .
• Home Secretary Priti Patel continued to consider whether to join the leadership race – as Brexit Options Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg reportedly did.
• The former Tory chancellor, Norman Lamont, has joined criticism of the race as being dominated by calls for massive tax cuts that are unwieldy and ill-timed. He pointed to the risk that this would trigger even higher price rises, saying: “You can’t get out of inflation, you’re just likely to add to it if you try to do that.”
• Mr Zahawi, the chancellor, has nevertheless upped the ante even further – pledging to cut income tax to 18p by 2024 and scrap environmental charges on energy bills within two years.
• Mr Javid has announced he will cut duty on fuel by 10p per liter – in addition to cutting income tax to 19p and reversing increases in corporation tax and national insurance. He also warned fellow Tories of 1997-style “oblivion” unless they changed course, but dodged questions about his previous tax-avoiding status as an unusual citizen.
• Both Mr Zahawi and Liz Truss backer Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, have admitted spending cuts will be needed to fund tax cuts – raising the specter of a return to austerity.
• Chairman of the Conservative Net Zero Support Group, Chris Skidmore, warned there were “two weeks to save net zero” as the climate emergency failed to enter the race.
• Mr Johnson said he would not back a successor because he “wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s chances by offering my support”.
• The prospect of Labor staging a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson, in a bid to force him out of No 10 immediately, moved a step closer – as Tory MPs backed away from trying to oust him.
• A massive poll for the ConservativeHome website put Penny Mordaunt first (with 20 per cent of those polled), ahead of Kemi Badenoch (19 per cent), Mr Sunak (12 per cent) and Ms Braverman and Ms Truss (both on 10 percent) .
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