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National
Aaron Morris

When will the new UK Prime Minister be announced? - as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss battle it out

In July this year, Boris Johnson made the decision to step down at the United Kingdom's Prime Minister after a series of crippling resignations from his close-knit cabinet, who protested how the Conservative Party was being ran and showed little to no faith in their leader.

Instead of a general election, over the past couple of months a number of Tory members have thrown their name in the hat to succeed Johnson, with the party gifted the decision as to who will go on to lead their party for the rest of the blues' reign.

After a series of ballots, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are the only two Tory MPs left standing, each hopeful to take charge when the results are read today.

Read more: Liz Truss promises 'immediate action' on energy bills if she wins bid to be Prime Minister

With a huge announcement in UK politics set for today, here's everything you need to know as the Tory leadership race comes to a close.

When will the new UK Prime Minister be elected?

The new Prime Minister will be announced today (September 5) at 12.30pm, when Sir Graham Brady - who is the chair of the 1922 committee will read the results of the vote live from Westminster. The successful candidate will take up duties tomorrow.

How is the new Prime Minister chosen?

When a PM serves a full five-year term, a general election is cast and all parties across the UK put forward frontrunning candidates. But this is not the case this time round with Boris Johnson resigning prematurely and renounced calling a subsequent election.

Instead, the new leader will be selected by members of the Conservatives themselves - with votes being collated and counted by the 1922 Committee. Each and every Tory MP was welcome to run for PM due to the circumstances, and many hopefuls have been whittled down to the last remaining two, in the form of Sunak and Truss.

Party members will now vote on which remaining MP they think should take charge of the party, and the winner will in-turn also become the new PM.

When will the next general election come?

As Johnson decided not to call a general election at the end of his term, the Tories will remain in power for their full five-year stint allocated. This means that as Johnson was initially voted into power in 2020, the next election will not take place until January 2025 - unless the new PM decides to call one early.

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