At last there is white smoke in the negotiations over the rules for the Tory leadership contest. On Monday, the 1922 committee met and agreed a timetable for the contest to succeed Rishi Sunak as Conservative party leader. The plan is for a new leader to be unveiled 2 November with eligible candidates to throw their name into the ring before the summer recess.
It comes after a dispute over how long the contest should drag on for. When the 1922 and Conservative board met last week, there was a clash of views with the board pushing for a contest to be completed by or at this year’s Conservative conference and several Tory MPs asking for more time so as not to rush into a decision. It is the latter group who have come out on top.
Rather than announcing the new leader at the October conference, the annual Tory meet will be used as a beauty parade ahead of a later vote with a leader to be unveiled on 2 November. Would-be leaders need to be nominated before the summer recess and will require ten nominations in total to enter the race. The plan is to whittle down the playing field to four candidates by the time of the conference. Each will then have a chance to address the party faithful though the exact plan for the conference is to be confirmed – with some talk of a day each for the contenders to take over and prove their worth.
Making this possible is Rishi Sunak who has agreed to stay on until November – despite not initially expecting to be in the position this long. As to what this long contest would mean for the candidates, they can now choose whether to holiday or tour associations over the summer. The knock out rounds will commence in September, followed by conference season and the final vote. MPs hope the length of the contest will mean that it is less vicious and there is time for deep thinking on what went wrong. Time will tell whether that is right.
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