Britain to have new PM by 5 September as Tory leadership rules announced

With just two contenders so far having the support of the 20 Tory MPs needed to get them on to the ballot, the nine remaining hopefuls were scrambling to shore up support by Tuesday night before knockout votes begin on Wednesday afternoon, with the first results announced later that day.

To speed up the competition, the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers on Monday opted to increase the number of backers that a candidate needed from eight to 20, and ruled that they would need at least 30 votes to get past the first round.

Those who struggle to reach the 20 threshold could be forced to pull out within 24 hours and instead pledge their support to one of the frontrunners.

Mordaunt was given a boost by polling for Conservative Home on Monday night showing that she was the preferred candidate among party members.

The final two should have been decided by the time the Commons goes into recess at the end of Thursday, Brady said, with some in-person and virtual hustings held during August and a new prime minister announced on 5 September.

As well as a bidding war on tax cuts, candidates have also vied to be most generous on defence spending. Overnight the former foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, made another major spending pledge to spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2027/28 and to cancel cuts to the Ministry of Defence in his first budget.

More candidates could yet enter the race, though are likely to face an uphill battle for nominations. The home secretary, Priti Patel, addressed senior members of the European Research Group on Monday night in a bid to win their endorsement in order to decide whether she should stand as a candidate.