BRITAIN’S next Prime Minister will be revealed on September 5, Tory chiefs announced tonight.
Party bosses on the ruling 1922 executive formally fired the starting gun on the race to be the next Conservative leader.
The race for Downing Street is on
Chairman Sir Graham Brady laid out a timetable to whittle down the 11-strong crowded field of wannabe PMs to just two by the end of July.
The top two will then be put through rounds of hustings before a full vote of party members on September 5 when Parliament returns.
The 1922 Chair Sir Graham Brady raised the threshold of backers wannabe leaders need to 20 to chip away the no-hopers.
The first round of MP votes will be on Wednesday, and the second vote will be on Thursday.
Candidates will need at least 30 votes to get into the second round of voting.
The newly-elected executive committee met tonight to finalise the rules before nominations open tomorrow.
In key developments:
- Nadhim Zahawi pledged a whopping tax cuts bonanza
- Sajid Javid also vowed to give away £40bn in tax cuts if he wins
- Priti Patel was mulling making a last-gasp bid for the top job
- Boris Johnson refused to row behind any of the candidates
Rishi Sunak is the early runaway frontrunner and has racked up 37 colleagues to back his No10 bid.
Penny Mordaunt is hot on his heels with 22, and Tom Tugendhat not far behind.
Liz Truss, Nadhim Zahawi, Sajid Javid, Kemi Badenoch, Jeremy Hunt, Suella Braverman and Grant Shapps are also in the running.
Mr Zahawi today unveiled a tax cuts bonanza that he claims will save squeezed families £900.
The Chancellor pledged to shave a penny off the 20p income tax basic rate next year and take it down to 18p in 2024.
He also vowed to wipe VAT and green levies off energy bills for two years if elected to help Brits with soaring fuel prices.
And he said that since moving to the Treasury five days ago he is already looking to scrap the planned corporation tax rise.
He said: “Let me be clear. Tax as a percentage of GDP will fall year on year if I become prime minister. That is a promise.”
The Tory big beast has said he will pay for the swingeing tax cuts by slashing government spending by 20 per cent.
