Who will be the next UK Prime Minister?
There are 11 MPs standing for the leadership of the UK Conservatives. The winner will become Leader and Prime Minister. I’ve done a summary of them.
| MPs support | Highest office | Entered Parl | Ethnicity | Views | |
| Rishi Sunak | 40 | Chancellor | 2015 | Indian | Moderate |
| Penny Mordaunt | 25 | Defence Sec | 2010 | Moderate | |
| Tom Tugendhat | 21 | Foreign Cmte Chair | 2015 | Moderate | |
| Liz Truss | 17 | Foreign Sec | 2010 | Right | |
| Nadhim Zahawi | 15 | Chancellor | 2010 | Iraqi | Moderate |
| Kemi Badenoch | 14 | Local Govt Minister | 2017 | Nigerian | Right |
| Jeremy Hunt | 14 | Foreign Sec | 2005 | Liberal | |
| Suella Braverman | 12 | Attorney-General | 2015 | Indian | Right |
| Sajid Javid | 12 | Chancellor | 2010 | Pakistani | Right |
| Grant Shapps | 9 | Transport Sec | 2005 | Moderate | |
| Rehman Chishti | 1 | Foreign Under-Sec | 2010 | Pakistani | Moderate |
To make the first ballot an MP needs at least 20 MPs to nominate them. So the number of MPs who have said they support a candidate is important. There are 358 MPs.
In the first ballot any candidate who gets fewer than 30 votes drops out.
Then in the second and further ballots the lowest polling drops out until there are two left.
Then those two go to a vote of all members. So the support of MPs is vital to making the final two, but after that it is the vote of the party membership that will decide.
There are four women standing, three of whom have a decent chance. If one of them wins the Conservatives will be ion their third female leader, while Labour will remain at zero.
Six of the 11 candidates are immigrants or children of immigrants. I think it says a lot about a country that people can move there, and they or their children can aspire to the highest office.