Race to replace UK PM gets under way as Boris Johnson bounces back
The race to be the UK's next prime minister began in earnest on Friday, with some senior government ministers throwing their support behind Boris Johnson.
Following Liz Truss's resignation, Johnson reportedly cut short his holiday in the Caribbean today -- in a bid to sound out colleagues and assess whether he has enough support to win the Conservative party leadership contest.
Business Secretary and Johnson-loyalist Jacob Rees-Mogg were among the dozens of Tory MPs to come out in support of Johnson, with many allies posting on Twitter #BackBorris.
Those seeking to replace Truss -- now the shortest-serving PM in UK history -- must secure 100 nominations from Conservative MPs by Monday afternoon.
Should just one contender achieve this feat, they will be named PM the very same day. But should two or more contenders emerge, some 170,000 Conservative party members will vote in an online ballot.
A new PM is promised by Friday 28 October. Whoever wins will be the UK's fifth leader in six years, presiding over a country that faces hard times ahead.
But who is in the race?
Sunak is the bookmaker's favourite.
The 42-year-old former treasury chief came second to Truss in the last Conservative leadership race.
During the heated TV debates between the two, Sunak slammed Truss's proposed economic policies of slashing taxes, claiming they were reckless "fairy tales" that would send the economy into free fall.
He positioned himself as a stability candidate who could face up to hard truths about the UK's public finances.
Most of what Sunak predicted came to pass, notably the pound collapsing in value, with some in the Tory party claiming this vindicates his leadership credentials.
Sunak was formerly the Treasury chief under ex-PM Boris
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