Conservative Party rules to reduce numbers in leadership race

The UK Conservative Party agreed rules on Tuesday for the leadership race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May that will see the number of candidates reduced.

May is scheduled to resign as leader of the Tory party on Friday, but will remain prime minister until the new leader is chosen. It is expected that the new appointment will be made before the end of July.

The new rules approved by the 1922 Committee stated that every candidate would need the support of eight lawmakers to enter the race.

Candidates then need to win 5% of a vote (16 votes) among lawmakers to make it through the first round, and then 10% in a second ballot in order to stay in the contest.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, his successor Jeremy Hunt, former Brexit minister Dominic Raab and environment minister Michael Gove are among the frontrunners in the contest.

The first ballot of Conservative lawmakers will take place on 13 June, with further ballots having already been scheduled for June 18, 19 and 20.

The final two candidates will face a ballot in which 160,000 party members nationwide taking part in the vote.

Boris Johnson told the leadership hustings that the party will "not be forgiven" if it does not take the UK out of the EU by 31 October as planned. He has vowed to deliver Brexit if chosen as May’s successor even under a no-deal scenario.

"We need to realise the depth of the problems we face. Unless we get on and do this thing, we will be punished for a very long time. There is a very real choice between getting Brexit done and the potential extinction of this great party."

Two candidates for the leadership of the party have already dropped out, leaving only 11 to go. Kit Malthouse, a rank outsider, announced he was withdrawing from the contest because he was “a realist” about his chances just hours after James Cleverly made the same decision.