WHEN Boris Johnson announced his resignation from Prime Minister, it also meant that he was stepping down from the position of leader of the Conservatives Party.
This means that the Tory Party must now elect a new leader, and in the process, a hustings will be held.
What is a hustings?
A hustings is a panel made up of election candidates or parties that discuss policies and then answer questions from the audience hearing them.
This helps voters to learn more about what the candidates have in mind and help them in their voting decisions.
There are two types of hustings – selective and non-selective.
Selective hustings tend to influence the decision of voters and it can be used to edge voters to give you their vote.
Tory leader candidates will be taking part in hustings to debate their plans and policies if they are elected as Prime Minister
On the other hand, non-selective hustings are not intended at influencing voters.
In these, the organiser decides who to invite and they have impartial reasons for holding such a hustings.
In the case of general elections and for example electing the new Prime Minister, selective hustings are always held.
How is a new Tory Party leader elected?
When the leader of the party resigns, then a new contest for a new party leader is triggered.
When the Prime Minister decides to resign, he cannot simply leave office without a new leader being elected.
He needs to wait in his position until a new leader is found, just like Theresa May did in 2019 and what David Cameron did in 2016 and now what Boris Johnson will do.
If they do not want to wait in the position, they can ask the Queen to appoint a new Prime Minister until the party chooses its leader.
In 2022, the candidates for Tory leadership must go through two stages.
The first one will feature the backing of at least 30 MPs.
So candidates such as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Tom Tugendhat will need to ensure the votes of 30 MPs from 358 on Wednesday July 13.
Those who do not reach this number are eliminated, and those who do move on to another ballot on Thursday July 14.
In the Thursday ballot, only the bottom-ranked candidate will be eliminated.
The top two candidates will then be decided and moved on to stage two of the process – the mass membership stage.
There will be campaigns made throughout the summer and then the ballot papers will be sent to the members in August.
The Conservative Party announced that they will receive the results of who’s elected as their new leader on September 5.
Can I watch hustings on TV?
Hustings are normally shown on TV channels such as Sky News.
The hustings for this year’s election will start after the votes on Thursday, July 14.
