Rishi to hang on for months yet? Tory leadership battle descends into row over how long it should take to replace Sunak amid fears Nigel Farage will use delay to establish himself as Keir Starmer's main opposition
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Rishi Sunak could be poised to remain as Tory leader for months to come after being told his 'last great service' will be to delay the moment when his successor is chosen.
The former prime minister announced his intention to quit as Conservative leader after overseeing the party's worst ever general election defeat.
But a fierce battle has broken out within Tory ranks over the timing of the contest to choose his replacement.
Former chancellor George Osborne revealed his old ally David Cameron was pushing for Mr Sunak to delay the moment when a new Conservative leader is chosen.
But other Tories are calling for a speedy contest amid fears Nigel Farage could capitalise on their disarray and establish Reform UK as Labour's main opposition.
In his final address from Downing Street this morning, prior to visiting the King to resign as PM, Mr Sunak confirmed he would also step down as Tory leader.
It came after he witnessed the Tories slumping to just 121 MPs - a staggering drop of 251 seats from the 2019 general election - in the face of a huge Labour landslide.
But Mr Sunak said he would only depart as Conservative leader 'once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place'.
Rishi Sunak could be poised to remain as Tory leader for months to come after being told his 'last great service' will be to delay the moment when his successor is chosen
But other Tories are calling for a speedy contest amid fears Nigel Farage could capitalise on their disarray and establish Reform UK as Labour 's main opposition
Sir Keir Starmer, pictured entering Downing Street with his wife Victoria, saw his Labour Party deliver the Tories their worst-ever general election defeat
Speaking to his Political Currency podcast this evening, Mr Osborne revealed there was a 'big effort' to get Mr Sunak to oversee a long Tory leadership contest.
'There's a big effort on, which David Cameron is part of, to get Rishi Sunak to just delay the moment when the new leader is chosen,' the ex-chancellor said.
'The contest can start, but it doesn't have to conclude.'
Mr Osborne said none of the leading contenders to replace Mr Sunak had ever been in opposition or 'proved their mettle' outside of ministerial ranks.
'Above all, an opposition politician, an opposition leader, needs to be a communicator,' he added.
'And we don't want a dud who may have excited some faction of the Right in government or said the right thing on this particular bit of Brexit policy two years ago in the Cabinet.
'We want to know if these people can perform.'
Mr Osborne told Mr Sunak his 'last great service to the Conservative Party would be to delay the Conservative contest's outcome'.
But it emerged some Tory MPs wanted Mr Sunak gone sooner as it would be more difficult to have the 'frank conversation' the party needed with him still as leader.
There was even a suggestion they wanted him gone before Sir Keir is scheduled to face his first Prime Minister's Questions as premier on 17 July.
It came amid concerns that Mr Farage could seek to exploit Conservative dithering over choosing a new leader.
One Tory, said to be close to CCHQ, told the Guardian: 'There's a deep rooted fear within the party institutionally that if we don't have a full-time leader by September, that will allow Farage to position himself as the main opposition to Starmer.
'If you wait until party conference or even Christmas, the problem is you then come in as leader and instead of facing Starmer… you're suddenly having to first argue with Farage.'
The Tories' heavy general election defeat saw a dozen top Cabinet ministers lose their seats.
It means Penny Mordaunt and other possible leadership contenders have been knocked out of the race to replace Mr Sunak before it even started.
The surviving favourites include darlings of the Toruy Right such as Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel.
More centrist voices like Jeremy Hunt and Tom Tugendhat would also be considered realistic contenders if they threw their hats in the ring.
Senior Tory figures - including a record number of Cabinet ministers - lost their seats in an election bloodbath
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, didn't waste any time in showing she is ready to launch a leadership bid.
In her acceptance speech after winning the Fareham and Waterlooville seat, she vowed to 'rebuild trust' with voters and apologised for her party's failings.
She said: 'I'm sorry that my party didn't listen to you. The Conservative Party has let you down.
'You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises. I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust. We need to listen to you, you have spoken to us very clearly'.
Ms Braverman is fourth favourite to be the next Tory leader, according to bookmakers.
Ms Badenoch is favourite, followed by Ms Patel and Mr Tugendhat.
The bruising election result risks making the Tory leadership contest especially acrimonious, as rival factions thrash it out to define the future of the party.
Whoever takes over as Conservative leader faces the momentous task of rebuilding after an unprecedented defeat.
Here are the key contenders to watch, with odds provided by Ladbrokes:
Kemi Badenoch (2/1)
Outgoing Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is seen as a frontrunner among right-leaning factions and has left the door open to a tilt at the top job by saying 'we will talk about leadership things after an election'.
Ms Badenoch was born in Wimbledon and grew up in Nigeria and the US, returning to the UK at the age of 16. She has a master of engineering as well as a bachelor of laws and has worked at private bank Coutts and The Spectator.
She first became an MP in 2017. Ms Badenoch backed Brexit, and as minister for women and equalities she has made a name for herself as an outspoken voice on gender issues, including by calling for a change to the Equality Act so that sex is defined only as someone's biological sex.
Ms Badenoch has rejected calls for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to be welcomed into the Tory fold.
Dame Priti Patel (5/1)
Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel is a longstanding Eurosceptic who has said she was inspired to join the Conservative Party by Margaret Thatcher.
She became an MP in 2010 and served in cabinet positions under Theresa May and Boris Johnson, as international development secretary and home secretary respectively.
Dame Priti was a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign, and as home secretary she launched a points-based immigration system, signed the agreement with Rwanda to send asylum seekers to the country and sealed returns deals with Albania and Serbia.
She resigned as home secretary after Liz Truss became Tory leader.
Suella Braverman (8/1)
Suella Braverman declared two days before election day that the fight for a Conservative electoral victory is over.
Writing in The Telegraph, she instead referred to a 'fight for the soul' of the party.
Ms Braverman, a barrister by trade, has a track record of controversial op-eds. She was appointed home secretary by Rishi Sunak, who sacked her from that post over an article accusing the Metropolitan Police of bias in policing protests.
Ms Braverman was previously attorney general for England and Wales under Boris Johnson and has also chaired the Eurosceptic European Research Group.
She was elected as an MP in 2015. She recently told The Times she would welcome Nigel Farage into the Conservative Party, saying: 'There's not much difference really between him and many of the policies that we stand for.'
James Cleverly (8/1)
James Cleverly, who served as Home Secretary, has yet to declare his intentions and told Sky News in the aftermath of his re-election as an MP: 'What might happen in the future I'll leave that for the near future.'
An article in The Times had suggested he would not go for the top job due to his wife's health but other reports indicate he could be persuaded to run.
Mr Cleverly is a centrist who previously served as foreign secretary and was first elected as the Conservative MP for Braintree in May 2015.
After an injury cut short his Army career, he got a business degree and joined the Territorial Army. Mr Cleverly worked in magazine and digital publishing before setting up his own business. He was a London Assembly member before he became an MP.
Robert Jenrick (8/1)
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick last month denied he was firing the first shot in the race to replace Mr Sunak when he wrote an opinion piece dubbed by The Mail on Sunday as him 'effectively setting out his manifesto'.
Mr Jenrick used the article to say the Conservatives are the 'natural home for Reform voters' and that former prime minister Boris Johnson 'must always have a place' in the Tories, including in Parliament, should he wish to have one.
The MP for Newark resigned as a minister last December as he claimed the then draft legislation designed to revive the Rwanda deportation policy did 'not go far enough'.
Mr Jenrick last month claimed Mr Sunak's administration was 'turning a corner' in its efforts to reduce net migration.
He added in a nod to Reform: 'We have to build a coalition of voters and propose policies which will fix people's problems - be that on migration, public services reform, the cost of living, or housing.'
Jeremy Hunt (7/1)
Having previously run for leader in 2019 and 2022, Jeremy Hunt may be reluctant to have a third go.
But his lengthy experience in Cabinet and appeal to moderates could be attractive to Tories looking for a calming influence after the chaos of recent years.
After surviving a scare to secure his seat in the Commons, Mr Hunt said: 'Some Conservatives will wonder whether the scale of our crushing defeat was really justified.
'But when you lose the trust of the electorate, all that matters is having the courage and humility to ask yourself, why? So that you can earn it back again.'
After clinging on to his seat, Mr Hunt is not favoured among bookmakers to take over.
Tom Tugendhat (7/2)
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat, who held on in Tonbridge, repeatedly refused to rule out taking a tilt at the top job during the election campaign.
He previously unsuccessfully ran for the leadership in 2022, when he pitched himself as the candidate untarnished by the scandals that dogged Boris Johnson and his government.
He is seen as being on the centrist wing of the party, meaning he could struggle to convince a more right-leaning Tory membership.
Speaking after last night's result, Mr Tugendhat said he was 'very grateful' to be re-elected but called for his party to 'stop and rethink where we're going'.
Victoria Atkins (14/1)
Victoria Atkins, the outgoing health secretary, left the door open for a leadership bid in the run-up to the election.
Ms Atkins, who held her Louth and Horncastle seat with a reduced majority, has been discussed as a contender from the more moderate wing of the party.
She was reportedly talked up by former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden as a 'star' capable of leading the Tories in a leaked recording from December.
During her time in office, Ms Atkins struggled in vain to stop strikes by junior doctors.
Her odds are 18/1 with Betfair Exchange and 14/1 with Ladbrokes.
