The 1922 Committee Rules And How The Tories Will Elect A New Prime Minister

Senior Tories are desperate to stop one of the candidates pulling out of the contest, as Dame Andrea Leadsom did in 2016, handing the leadership uncontested to overwhelming favorite Theresa May before members had a chance to vote. The Telegraph understands that the leadership rules to be agreed on Monday include a “Leadsom clause”, under which any candidate who makes it to the bottom two will have to be put to a vote by party members. A senior party source said each candidate would have to agree that “it has to go on the members’ ballot if you get to the bottom two” when entering the contest. The next Conservative leader is chosen in a process initially run by MPs before the final two are put in front of the party’s 200,000 members to choose a winner. The hope is that rules agreed on Monday by both the party committee and the 1922 board will allow the leadership field to be quickly narrowed down to a handful of conservative candidates by the weekend. A senior Tory MP said the selection process had to be cut short due to MPs starting their summer break at the end of next week. This meant there was a “big disadvantage for candidates on the fringes” compared to household names. “Some of them aren’t even household names at home,” a senior Tory official told the Telegraph. Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Rehman Chisti announced on Sunday night that he is running, becoming the 11th candidate to launch a bid for the Tory leadership. Mr Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010, promised to bring “fresh ideas” and a brand of “ambitious conservatism”.

What are the 1922 committee leadership rules?

Nominations must be submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 president, by 6 p.m. of Tuesday, July 12. The first hurdle is the lowest: each candidate must get the support of 20 MPs – that’s 18 MPs, one proposer and one second – enter the race. Voting is due to begin on Wednesday 13 July, after Prime Minister’s Questions in one of the cavernous committee rooms in the committee corridor, and will run from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, with the result being announced in the early afternoon. MPs fill their ballots into the historic 1922 metal ballot box marked ‘CCO’, under the watchful eye of Sir Graham and other 1922 board members, who will ensure the vote is fair. Proxy votes are allowed for those colleagues who cannot vote in person. The bar to stay in the competition is now increasing. MPs with the support of less than 10 percent of the parliamentary party – 36 MPs – will have to leave.

The field thins before the second round

MPs predict this will spark frenzied horse-trading on Wednesday night and into Thursday, ahead of that day’s second round of voting. Candidates who remain in the field will court opponents who were forced to withdraw and try to get their endorsements and hopefully the support of the MPs who had backed them. To add to the intrigue, the 1922 committee are considering an early clash on Wednesday afternoon to give fans a chance to grill their future leader. The second round of voting will take place on Thursday, July 14, when the last leadership candidate will automatically drop out.

Could the rules be changed?

One idea to be discussed by the 1922 committee on Monday will be to raise the threshold at which a candidate must drop from 10 percent to 15 percent, to whittle down the list of candidates more quickly. After Thursday’s second vote there will be a three-day break before MPs have the chance to debate the candidates on their policies in a “Super Monday” run-off. Three sets of appeals are scheduled for Monday 18 July – one by the 1922 committee and open to all Tory MPs, one by the group of 92 senior Tory MPs and one by the common sense anti-awakening group. The next rounds of voting are scheduled for Tuesday, July 19, when one or two votes may be held, depending on the number of candidates remaining. The last day of voting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20.
Party bosses hope that by Thursday 21 July, two candidates will remain in the process.

The confrontation begins

Conservative Central Office officials then take over and organize a series of tours of the party’s regional bases across the country so members can grill the two remaining candidates. The appeals – held in 2019 in places including Belfast, York, Darlington, Perth, Nottingham and Cardiff – will allow thousands of voting members to challenge the final two. Tory members will be encouraged to vote for their choice to be leader by post until the end of August. The winner will be announced on Monday, September 5th. The new Conservative leader and prime minister will have two days to prepare for their first meeting with Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday 7 September.

title: “The 1922 Committee Rules And How The Tories Will Elect A New Prime Minister " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-26” author: “Lisa Drennan”

Senior Tories are desperate to stop one of the candidates pulling out of the contest, as Dame Andrea Leadsom did in 2016, handing the leadership uncontested to overwhelming favorite Theresa May before members had a chance to vote. The Telegraph understands that the leadership rules to be agreed on Monday include a “Leadsom clause”, under which any candidate who makes it to the bottom two will have to be put to a vote by party members. A senior party source said each candidate would have to agree that “it has to go on the members’ ballot if you get to the bottom two” when entering the contest. The next Conservative leader is chosen in a process initially run by MPs before the final two are put in front of the party’s 200,000 members to choose a winner. The hope is that rules agreed on Monday by both the party committee and the 1922 board will allow the leadership field to be quickly narrowed down to a handful of conservative candidates by the weekend. A senior Tory MP said the selection process had to be cut short due to MPs starting their summer break at the end of next week. This meant there was a “big disadvantage for candidates on the fringes” compared to household names. “Some of them aren’t even household names at home,” a senior Tory official told the Telegraph. Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Rehman Chisti announced on Sunday night that he is running, becoming the 11th candidate to launch a bid for the Tory leadership. Mr Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010, promised to bring “fresh ideas” and a brand of “ambitious conservatism”.

What are the 1922 committee leadership rules?

Nominations must be submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 president, by 6 p.m. of Tuesday, July 12. The first hurdle is the lowest: each candidate must get the support of 20 MPs – that’s 18 MPs, one proposer and one second – enter the race. Voting is due to begin on Wednesday 13 July, after Prime Minister’s Questions in one of the cavernous committee rooms in the committee corridor, and will run from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, with the result being announced in the early afternoon. MPs fill their ballots into the historic 1922 metal ballot box marked ‘CCO’, under the watchful eye of Sir Graham and other 1922 board members, who will ensure the vote is fair. Proxy votes are allowed for those colleagues who cannot vote in person. The bar to stay in the competition is now increasing. MPs with the support of less than 10 percent of the parliamentary party – 36 MPs – will have to leave.

The field thins before the second round

MPs predict this will spark frenzied horse-trading on Wednesday night and into Thursday, ahead of that day’s second round of voting. Candidates who remain in the field will court opponents who were forced to withdraw and try to get their endorsements and hopefully the support of the MPs who had backed them. To add to the intrigue, the 1922 committee are considering an early clash on Wednesday afternoon to give fans a chance to grill their future leader. The second round of voting will take place on Thursday, July 14, when the last leadership candidate will automatically drop out.

Could the rules be changed?

One idea to be discussed by the 1922 committee on Monday will be to raise the threshold at which a candidate must drop from 10 percent to 15 percent, to whittle down the list of candidates more quickly. After Thursday’s second vote there will be a three-day break before MPs have the chance to debate the candidates on their policies in a “Super Monday” run-off. Three sets of appeals are scheduled for Monday 18 July – one by the 1922 committee and open to all Tory MPs, one by the group of 92 senior Tory MPs and one by the common sense anti-awakening group. The next rounds of voting are scheduled for Tuesday, July 19, when one or two votes may be held, depending on the number of candidates remaining. The last day of voting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20.
Party bosses hope that by Thursday 21 July, two candidates will remain in the process.

The confrontation begins

Conservative Central Office officials then take over and organize a series of tours of the party’s regional bases across the country so members can grill the two remaining candidates. The appeals – held in 2019 in places including Belfast, York, Darlington, Perth, Nottingham and Cardiff – will allow thousands of voting members to challenge the final two. Tory members will be encouraged to vote for their choice to be leader by post until the end of August. The winner will be announced on Monday, September 5th. The new Conservative leader and prime minister will have two days to prepare for their first meeting with Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday 7 September.