UK Conservatives race to replace Boris Johnson

The race is on for the Conservative party to replace Boris Johnson after he resigns as the UK’s Prime Minister.

Boris Johnson may have resigned as prime minister of the United Kingdom – but that doesn’t mean he steps out of the job immediately.

When Theresa May announced her resignation on May 24, 2019, she didn’t leave the post until Boris Johnson took over on July 24, two months later.

In his resignation speech, Boris Johnson said he would stay on until his successor takes over.

That process can take months.

This has got several Tory party elder statesmen and many current MPs concerned.

John Major, who was the UK prime minister himself between 1990 and 1997 wrote a letter saying it was “unwise, and may be unsustainable” for Johnson to stay in the top job for up to three months.

“In such a circumstance, the prime minister maintains the power of patronage and, of even greater concern, the power to make decisions which will affect the lives of those within all four nations of the United Kingdom and further afield,”

SIR JOHN MAJOR
UK Prime minister 1990 – 1997

He suggested Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister under Boris Johnson, should serve as interim.

In the UK, however, there is no constitutional process for the deputy PM to take over automatically if the prime minister leaves office, despite what the title implies.

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour party also publicly declared his position.

Starmer vowed a vote of no confidence if Boris Johnson doesn’t leave Number 10 promptly

Under Conservative party rules – when a Conservative prime minister resigns, a new party leader election is triggered.

Currently, any candidate that wants to have a chance at leadership needs the support of eight Conservative MPs to stand.

Once all candidates have declared (and if there are more than two in the running) the party holds a series of votes until just two remain.

• In the first round, candidates must get 5% of the votes to remain in contention. At the moment, 5% means 18 MPs.
• In the second round, they must get 10% of the votes to stay in the game (meaning 36 MPs)
• If there are any remaining rounds and more than two MPs still in the running, the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated until only two MPs are left

When only two choices remain, a postal vote to all members of the Conservative party across the nation vote for the next leader.

There is no clear frontrunner to replace Boris Johnson, so predicting outcomes is a gamble.

Any new prime minister would not be obliged to call a general election immediately.

Though constitutionally, the next general election in the United Kingdom must take place no later than January 2025.