Theresa May has announced she will resign as Tory leader on June 7, triggering the long-anticipated race to replace her.
The contest is already a crowded field, with at least ten MPs ready to throw their hat in the ring.
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and ex-Brexit secretary Dominic Raab are the bookies’ favourites but, how will a leadership contest work?
The timetable for the contest is set by the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, and they have confirmed that the deadline for nominations is the week commencing June 10.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, will be responsible for overseeing the contest.
Candidates must be nominated by at least two Conservative MPs.
If only one candidate comes forward, he or she becomes leader, but with Esther McVey, Rory Stewart and Johnson among those already to have declared, a coronation of this kind is highly unlikely.
The list of candidates will be whittled down to a shortlist of two in a series of votes by Conservative MPs.
MPs’ votes should be concluded by the end of June, the party has said.
The final pair then go to a postal ballot of all party members, with the position of leader – and prime minister – going to the victor.
A new leader will be in place for July and is likely to set out a new policy agenda at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester starting on September 29.
Can anyone beat Boris Johnson?
The former foreign secretary is in an extremely strong position.
He is the favourite and has a growing number of MPs backing him, including former defence secretary Gavin Williamson and popular backbenchers Johnny Mercer.
Should he make it to the final two, the Vote Leave figurehead is highly likely to win in a ballot of vastly Eurosceptic Tory members.
But his popularity is thought to have limits with Tory MPs, particularly those who backed Remain in the 2016 referendum, whose support he may need to reach the last stage.
Who emerges as the ‘stop Boris’ candidate remains to be seen, but foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd are among the figures who may challenge.