The Conservatives are set to announce their next leader on November 2, after using their party conference as a “beauty parade” for the final four candidates.
The 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs on Monday drew up a timetable for the contest to decide Rishi Sunak’s successor following wrangling between parliamentarians over the rules, according to party insiders.
Nominations for the next Conservative leader will open on Wednesday and close before the House of Commons rises for the summer recess on Tuesday next week.
Over the summer leadership candidates will be free to attend local Tory association events to make their case to members, before facing hustings in front of MPs when parliament returns at the start of September.
A series of ballots of MPs will whittle down the field, expected to initially number as many as eight contenders, to four by September 11.
Those final four candidates will be offered keynote slots to speak from the main stage at the Conservatives’ conference in Birmingham at the end of September.
Two further ballots of MPs will take place to narrow the field down to the final pair of candidates, who will be announced on October 10.
Party members will then vote for their next leader, who will be unveiled on November 2.
One of the key outstanding questions is whether Sunak is willing to remain as interim leader until the end of the contest.
One ally said he would “do what’s best for the party and most importantly the country”.
Sunak has so far confirmed publicly only that he would stay in situ until the arrangements were agreed to elect his successor.
The timetable drawn up on Monday, seen by the Financial Times, will be reviewed again by the 1922 committee and must be approved by the party board on Wednesday.
Tory insiders said money constraints shaped the timetable, which some MPs had wanted to run longer — up to Christmas or even into next year.
The autumn “is the longest they can go without the party going bankrupt”, said one insider.
Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch — seen as the frontrunner to replace Sunak — and ex-foreign secretary James Cleverly are expected to pitch themselves as unity leadership candidates able to straddle both the right and centrist wings of the Conservative party.
Other contenders are likely to include rightwingers Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, and Priti Patel, the ex-home secretary.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat and ex-work and pensions secretary Mel Stride are expected to run and are touted as centrist candidates.
A handful of other potential contenders are being discussed by Tory MPs, as would-be candidates take final soundings from colleagues about the viability of launching campaigns.
Some Conservative officials believe an endorsement from former prime minister Boris Johnson, who remains popular with the party membership, will be influential.
Some Tory MPs said they will consider who is best placed to see off the threat from Nigel Farage and his populist Reform UK party.
The number of Tory MPs plummeted from 365 to 121 at the general election.
The MPs are significantly more centrist than the membership, according to Conservative officials.
Asked about the timetable drawn up by the 1922 committee, a Conservative spokesperson said: “We only find these things out from the media because MPs leak more than the Iraqi navy.”
