If Rishi Sunak is ousted, should Tory MPs or members pick his replacement? The answer isn’t that simple

By Tom Quinn, Senior Lecturer, Department of Government, University of Essex

Speculation continues over Rishi Sunak’s position as prime minister and Tory leader. The Conservatives’ leadership rules stipulate that Sunak would face a confidence vote among his MPs if 15% of them (52 MPs), wrote to Graham Brady, chairman of the Tories’ backbench 1922 Committee, calling for a ballot.

Conservative confidence votes are restricted to MPs, but if Sunak were forced out, his successor would be chosen by the party’s 170,000 members. Sunak lost such a contest to Liz Truss in 2022, but she lasted only six weeks before resigning. Perhaps with Truss in mind, Brady suggested…

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