Candidates vying to be the leader of the Conservative Party – and the next prime minister – have just hours to secure the support of at least 20 MPs.
It comes after the party increased the number of nominations required to make it onto the first-round ballot in order to speed up the selection process.
Eleven MPs have so far put themselves forward to replace Boris Johnson.
Three – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, and Tom Tugenhadt – have so far passed the necessary threshold.
Voting will get under way on Wednesday, with candidates needing 30 backers to make it into the second round.
The field will be whittled down to two finalists before the end of next week in successive rounds of voting by Tory MPs.
Editor Oloyede Oworu
