It’s been less than two months since Boris Johnson left Downing Street following months of scandal, yet once again the the hunt is on for the right person to lead the Conservative Party and the country.
After saying she “could not deliver the mandate on which she was elected” as Tory leader, Liz Truss said that she would stay on until a leadership election was “completed within the next week”.
And Sir Graham Brady, Chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee, has confirmed that a new Prime Minister would be in place by Friday, October 28.
The exact way a new leader will be chosed has not be revealed, but there are plenty of candidates who might like to take on the job.
Here are the top 10 according to the bookies – along with their odds of success.
5. Kemi Badenoch
Currently serving as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Kemi Badenoch is 40/1 to become PM. She previously served as Minister of State for Local Government, Faith and Communities and Minister of State for Equalities from 2021 to 2022 and has been the MP for Saffron Walden since 2017. Photo: Dan Kitwood
6. Jeremy Hunt
A hugely experienced politician, Jeremy Hunt has only recently taken on the role of Chancellor and has apparently ruled himself out of the top job. The bookies still have him as joint 5th favourite, with odds of 40/1. He has previously served as Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018, and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2018 to 2019. He has been MP for South West Surrey since 2005. Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe
7. Dominic Raab
Dominic Raab was Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor under Boris Johnson, having previously been Brexit Secretary in 2018 and First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary from 2019 to 2021. He has been MP for Esher and Walton since 2010. He's 66/1 to become the UK's next Prime Minister. Photo: Christopher Furlong
8. James Cleverly
Current Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is 66/1 to move up to the top job vacated by former boss Liz Truss. He's been MP for Braintree in Essex since 2015 and previously served as Secretary of State for Education from July to September 2022, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party alongside Ben Elliot from 2019 to 2020 and as the member of the London Assembly for Bexley and Bromley from 2008 to 2016. Photo: Dan Kitwood