WITH Liz Truss quitting as Prime Minister – Downing Street could have a new occupant by Monday.
Hot off the heels of the last Tory leadership election, here is a look at the frontrunners who will need at least the backing of 100 Conservative MPs to make it onto the ballot.
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak will believe he is favourite to become the next prime minister, having lost out against Liz Truss last month.
The former chancellor, whose resignation kickstarted the downfall of Boris Johnson, won the most support from Tory MPs last time around.
Given Ms Truss’s economic disaster, which he warned about in the toxic leadership campaign, he is likely to put himself forward on his economic background.
Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt started the week with a prime ministerial-performance in the Commons in place of Liz Truss.
Having narrowly lost out on the final ballot to Ms Truss in the last leadership election, Ms Mordaunt will secure a high level of backing from MPs and party activists.
But she has been criticised by some in the party for her more liberal views than her peers on some social issues.
Ben Wallace
Defence Secretary and former MSP Ben Wallace could be seen as a safe pair of hands – having kept himself out of the in-fighting and continued fronting efforts in Ukraine.
Mr Wallace ruled himself out of the contest to replace Boris Johnson, but could decide the time is right to put himself forward to be the experienced candidate who has kept his slate clean throughout the chaos.
Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson is set to table an audacious bid to return to Downing Street despite resigning in disgrace and still being subject to a parliamentary probe into his conduct.
He may have some strong supporting voices withing the parliamentary party, but with the Tories running out of chances to win back trust with the public, a return from Mr Johnson is unlikely to sway the public mood on the Conservatives – currently being trounced in the polls by Labour.
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