Tory PM hopefuls need backing of 100 MPs by Monday to enter race

The short answer is a lot, but here's a quick recap of all the key events you need to know about.

• Liz Truss resigned as PM after 45 days in office, making her the shortest-serving PM in UK history
• Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the influential 1922 committee, announced that nominations for those wishing to run to replace Truss had opened and would close on Monday
• He said that candidates would need to have the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs by that point. If there's more than one candidate on Monday, the contest will be opened up to the party's membership in an online vote.
• The new Tory leader, and so PM, will be in office by next Friday, according to Brady
• Among the names rumoured to be in the running to replace Truss are, as you'd expect, former contenders Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt - with one surprise in the mix: Boris Johnson. But no one has yet announced their bid for Number 10
• Appearing on BBC One's Question Time this evening, Johnson's sister Rachel refused to confirm whether her brother intended to run
• Meanwhile, senior politicians from across the political spectrum - including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish FM Nicola Sturgeon - are calling for an "immediate" general election

A couple of Friday's front pages are circulating online - and it's safe to say they capture the uproar inside and outside 10 Downing Street.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Raynor shared an image of the Daily Mirror's main headline, calling for a "general election now".

Meanwhile, Metro brands Liz Truss "the worst PM we've ever had".

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross says Liz Truss has made the "right decision" to go.

Things had "not gone well in the last few days and weeks", says Ross, adding that another general election would put the whole country into turmoil again.

He says he wants a Conservative leader who can get on with "restoring stability in Scotland and across the UK".

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been encouraging Tory MPs to back Boris Johnson to be the next Conservative leader, sources have told the BBC.

I'm told the business secretary is running a behind-the-scenes campaign to try and rally MPs to back the former leader.

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Here is some of the reaction from senior figures around the UK and the world to Liz Truss’s resignation after just six weeks in the job:

Among the first to comment, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “France, as a friend of the British people, wants stability.”

In the current context of “war, of tensions over energy and the wider crisis” it is important for the UK to regain political stability, he said, adding: “That's all I want.

“On a personal level I'm always sad to see a colleague go and what I mean is I would like stability to return as soon as possible."

US President Joe Biden said the US and the UK will continue their "close cooperation". Describing the two nations as "strong allies and enduring friends" he said: "That fact will never change."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: "I had a good contact with her… so I'm annoyed for her personally. He said they agreed on a “whole range of views”.

He added: “I'm looking forward to work with who will be my next colleague. It will be the fifth one I believe."

There was little sympathy for Truss from Russia. Its foreign ministry spokeswoman welcomed her departure, saying Britain had "never known such a disgrace of a prime minister".

And former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev tweeted "bye, bye @trussliz, congrats to lettuce", in a reference to the Daily Star newspaper's live feed of a lettuce next to a photo of the PM, asking which would last longer.

Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin said he sympathised with Truss “on a personal level” but emphasised the need for stability.

“We would like to see the UK system within its capacity to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible.”

Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, said it was a “complete and utter failure of government, with everyone in this country now having to pay the price”.

He said the divisions within the Tory Party mean Truss’ successor will face the same set of challenges. "A general election is now the only way to end this paralysis."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a general election is a "democratic imperative".

“There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately,” she said, adding the situation was “beyond hyperbole and parody”

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A very significant majority of voters in Tory MP Marco Longhi’s Dudley North constituency would be very pleased if Boris Johnson came back, he says.

The constituency - a so-called red wall seat because it historically supported the Labour party - voted Conservative in 2019.

Longhi says he wants Johnson to return "in the national interest".

Asked if the man who was forced out of Downing Street in July, and still the subject of an inquiry by a parliamentary standards committee, is a fit and proper person to hold the role again - Longhi replies Johnson "has a mandate from the general public" to be PM.

He says out of the list of names currently in the frame to take over from Liz Truss, there is no unity candidate, except Johnson.

"The one thing that Boris can bring to the table is the fact... he [was] able to win seats up and down the country," he says.

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A Tory MP and prominent backer of Rishi Sunak claims the former chancellor is the only credible contender to replace Liz Truss - because he has a proven track record of dealing with financial crises.

James Cartlidge, who was Sunak's parliamentary private secretary during the Covid-19 pandemic, says his old boss helped people "in all walks of life" with his furlough scheme.

"He's the right man for the moment," Cartlidge tells BBC News, adding people know he can deal with "extraordinary" economic situations when necessary.

Challenged on whether Sunak's out of touch with voters - and why therefore MPs should vote for him - Cartlidge says it's "quite obvious" there's an "issue with instability" and the party needs someone who can cope with that effectively.

Sunak "can bring that stability and we can look to better times ahead," Cartlidge says.

The former chancellor is yet to announce whether he'll run for the leadership again, but various reports suggest allies of his are confident that he will.

It's been a hectic few months in politics and after just over six weeks in the job Liz Truss has resigned as prime minister, which makes her by far the shortest-serving PMr in British history.

What went wrong for her and why? And what happens next? Leila Nathoo looks back at the 45 days which saw the rise and fall of a prime minister.

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Some more Tory reaction, this time from Minister for Local Government Paul Scully who has expressed his relief at Liz Truss's departure.

Scully accepts the Conservatives are in a "fragile" position adding that "it was clear she couldn't hold the party together".

Commenting on whether Boris Johnson could make a comeback as leader, Scully said he would be surprised if he ends up doing so.

"I think there is a better life for him outside of politics," he adds.

"We need to move on from the past and get on with the future. It is a matter for him. People are looking for change and strong leadership."

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Tim Loughton, a former minister, has been telling BBC Radio 4 he wants the four “big beasts” in the party to form an alliance and agree who should be prime minister.

He says that if former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace could agree between them who will stand, there would be no need for a leadership contest and "we can get back to some degree of normality".

Asked if that would be acceptable to right-wing members of the Tory Party, Loughton says people "need to park all those egos" and put aside prejudices about certain candidates.

He says the party and country face a really urgent situation.

"We need to have a united and talented cabinet of grown-ups who come together and get us back on course," he adds.

The next question from the Question Time audience is who should replace Liz Truss as prime minister.

Rachel Johnson distances herself from answering the question as she says she isn't one of the Tory MPs voting.

Tory MP Graham Stuart says he "honestly doesn't know" who to back.

However, Baroness Cavendish - David Cameron's former director of policy - feels the obvious candidate is Rishi Sunak.

CBI director general Tony Danker says he cannot give a name but tells the programme he has two areas of criteria for who ever the candidate is.

He says the next leader has to agree with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and they have to understand the economy.

BBC Question TimeCopyright: BBC Question Time

After observing that the majority of the Question Time audience can agree on one thing - that they want a general election - the CBI's Tony Danker claims the Conservative Party "probably has a last chance moment in the next few days".

He continues: "To show a level of stability, grip, national interest first..."

He's interrupted by the BBC's Fiona Bruce, who tells him that in the next few days, what we'll have is a race to become the next prime minister. There'll be "frantic activity", she says, gesturing with her hands.

Danker responds by saying that if the next candidates to be PM are unable to breakaway from the "kinds of arguments they've been having for the last three months... then that's a pretty bad sign and maybe we should have that election sooner".

Across the UK, our correspondents have been gathering reaction from the devolved governments to Liz Truss's resignation.

Scotland

BBC Scotland editor James Cook says the SNP is calling for an immediate general election.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told him it was a "democratic necessity" the country goes to the polls and described Truss as a footnote in political history.

She added it would be a "ludicrous" and "ridiculous" idea if Boris Johnson returned as prime minister - a view shared by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, the BBC Scotland editor says.

Northern Ireland

BBC Ireland correspondent Chris Page says today's events have increased instability, but the parties at Stormont still think a fresh Northern Ireland Assembly election will be called next week. It is expected to be held in December.

It comes after Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he had a legal obligation to call a new assembly election if no devolved government was formed by 28 October.

Wales

BBC Wales correspondent Tomos Morgan says Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford also called for a general election and thinks it's ridiculous the Conservatives could credibly have a leader that could take them through to 2024.

But our correspondent notes a new Johnson government would be popular with Welsh Tory members as he managed to equal their best general election result in Wales in 2019.

Some interaction from the Question Time audience in Cheltenham.

One man says he "feels sorry" for Liz Truss, arguing "she should never have been put in charge of the highest office of state".

Another audience member brands the Tory Party "delirious", adding that emotion in the room "speaks volumes".

Fiona Bruce says these points lead the programme onto its first audience member question which is whether it is time for a general election?

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Also appearing on Question Time is Rachel Johnson, Boris Johnson's sister.

She says she doesn't know whether her brother will run for prime minister again.

She says the Tory Party is depleted and jokes that they should just keep the lectern out in Downing Street so that they don't have to "lug it in and out of the revolving door".

Pressed by Fiona Bruce on Boris Johnson's ambitions, she says: "I know nothing."

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The Conservative Party are "not fit to govern", Labour MP Jess Phillips says.

Speaking on BBC Question Time, the shadow domestic violence minister describes the current political instability as a "revolving door of chaos" and says services across the country "are on their knees".

She says: "People's mortgages have gone up, people's lives have been dramatically affected.

"They're [Conservatives] not fit to govern, they don't have a mandate.

"Whoever wins next Monday should go immediately to the country [for a general election] because the country is desperate for change."

BBC Question TimeCopyright: BBC Question Time

Speaking on Question Time, government minister Graham Stuart says the Tory Party is doing some soul searching.

He apologises to the Cheltenham audience and to the country for the "instability" caused.

"On the inside track it hasn't been comfortable," he says. "We are facing many challenges."

Stuart says he assumed Liz Truss was resigning when it was announced she was making a statement.

He said he sat in silence with colleagues in the House of Commons tea room and watched her statement on TV.

"I had no idea before then, and I'm a government minister and a member of the cabinet, but that's the nature of these things," he said.

"I feel disappointed, shocked, I backed Liz Truss."

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The news of Liz Truss’s resignation broke just as leaders started walking up the red carpet to speak to reporters here at the European Council summit.

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel started listing the UK leaders he’s known since 2016.

“The consequence of the Brexit brings instability in the UK now,” he told reporters.

This is a common belief here amongst those who remain dedicated to the EU cause and who could never quite understand Britain’s decision to depart.

Now, six years on, Europe is facing an energy crisis, economic worries and a war on European soil.

So strong cooperation with UK - a major economy and defence power - is genuinely valued and desired.

Many here often tell me that traditionally they’ve seen the UK as a relatively stable country, not one of those known for economic and political volatility.

In that regard Britain’s reputation has certainly taken a hammering.