Tory leadership hopefuls have until 2pm today to win at least 100 nominations from MPs to get on the ballot for Downing Street.
There are 357 Tory MPs, so a maximum of three possible leaders will be able to enter the race.
If only one candidate secures enough nominations, they are declared the winner and will become our next Prime Minister.
Rishi Sunak is certain to be on the ballot, after getting around 150 public backers by Sunday night.
Penny Mordaunt is very unlikely, because she was hovering on around 25 public backers on Sunday.
But Boris Johnson 's last-minute decision to pull out of the race leaves his supporters in play.
The former premier had about 60 public backers, yet he insisted he had the necessary 100 nominations and could have easily been on the ballot.
Nominations are almost entirely secret, so it’s possible that he had the numbers. Or it could have been a bluff to give him momentum and get others on the bandwagon.
There's not long to wait. The Tory 1922 Committee is expected to announce who has been successful almost immediately after the 2pm deadline.
MP ballots would then be held tonight before a vote of all 172,000 party members, which closes at 11am on Friday.
The winner would be announced that day and visit the King either on Friday or Saturday to become PM.
What are the Tory leadership election rules normally?
Usually a Tory leadership election takes a few months to complete.
Tory MPs go through several rounds of voting to whittle down about a dozen candidates to just two, to put to the Tory membership of 172,000.
Members attend a series of hustings over several weeks between the two finalists and choose a winner who is then installed as party leader.
How will this leadership election work?
Nominations opened on Friday and MPs had this weekend to garner support from colleagues.
By the time nominations close at 2pm on Monday, they need to have at least 100 MP nominees to get on the ballot paper.
There are 357 Tory MPs, so that means a maximum of three MPs will be able to get on the ballot paper.
What if three candidates get 100 nominees?
Conservative MPs will hold two ballots, both on Monday.
The first will be at 3.30pm on Monday with the result at 6pm. The candidate with the fewest MP supporters will be knocked out.
There will then be a second ballot at 6.30pm on Monday with the result at 9pm. This second ballot will only be indicative.
That means the result will not change who is on the ballot paper, but will signal to Tory members the candidate who MPs want.
If one of the candidates is clearly far behind, it’ll also heap pressure on them to pull out and offer a “coronation” to the one person who remains.
If two candidates remain, 172,000 Tory members will then vote online between two candidates in a sped-up ballot which closes at 11am on Friday 28 October. The new PM will be announced that day. Only people who have been Tory members for at least three months can vote.
What if two candidates get 100 nominees?
Conservative MPs will hold one "indicative" ballot at 3.30pm on Monday with the result at 6pm.
The result will not change who is on the ballot paper, but will signal to Tory members the candidate who MPs want.
172,000 Tory members will then vote online between two candidates in a sped-up ballot which closes at 11am on Friday 28 October. The new PM will be announced that day. Only people who have been Tory members for at least three months can vote.
What if only one candidate gets 100 nominees?
There will be no indicative ballot of MPs, no ballot of Tory members, and the winner will be "crowned" PM as early as Monday night or Tuesday morning.
Will the October 31 fiscal statement go ahead?
New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been drawing up sweeping spending cuts for an October 31 fiscal statement.
A Treasury source said this statement is still expected to go ahead, in order to steady the markets and prevent a further financial collapse.
But of course the choice of Chancellor is for the new Prime Minister and there's nothing forcing them to keep either Jeremy Hunt or his financial plans. So we don't know for sure.
Will there be a general election?
Pressure for one is enormous and growing. No party of government has changed their leader twice in a row without an election since the Second World War. The Mirror is calling for an election and so is Keir Starmer.
But legally speaking, calling an election is entirely within the gift of the next Prime Minister.
Technically they can wait until January 2025 at the latest before calling one - despite the anti-democratic nature of a Tory stitch-up for leader, and Labour's vast lead in the polls.
The one thing is if they lose a vote of no confidence in His Majesty's Government. But these are incredibly rare as Tory MPs tend to rally round their leader rather than let Labour into power.
