Who will replace Boris Johnson
International Desk
Boris Johnson has announced he will resign, which means there will now be a leadership election to decide who becomes the next Conservative leader and prime minister, reports BBC.
They will have to secure the backing of Tory MPs, with the final two candidates going to a ballot of Conservative members. But who are the potential candidates?
Remember, most of these MPs and ministers have not yet said whether they want the job of Tory leader and PM - but they are the ones to watch.
Under the current rules, candidates need the support of eight Conservative MPs to stand.
If there are more than two candidates, Tory MPs hold a series of votes until just two remain.
At that point there is a ballot of the wider Conservative party membership to select the winner.
The timescale for each contest is decided by the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, and the committee could vote to change the rules before the contest takes place.
