The second Tory leadership race in just three months is underway following the extraordinary resignation of Liz Truss.
The now-outgoing PM was forced from office after just 44 days following a seismic few weeks in Westminster that saw her tax-slashing mini-budget crash and burn.
Ms Truss’s resignation, signalling the end of the shortest term by any prime minister in modern British history, followed a raft of humiliating U-turns, the loss of two of her most senior Cabinet ministers and an open revolt by Tory MPs.
All eyes are now on who could replace her – with speculation mounting that Boris Johnson could launch a spectacular comeback to frontline politics, just six weeks after he was officially ousted from the top job.
Party rules for the new leadership contest mean PM hopefuls would need the backing of at least 100 Tory MPs by Monday afternoon to face off against any other successful challenger in a vote of the membership.
This will rule out a number of candidates from running and means the maximum number of people able to stand is three.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 backbench committee, said: “We fixed a high threshold but a threshold that should be achievable by any serious candidate who has a prospect of going through.”
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Image: Liz Truss announces her resignation
Who are the runners and riders?
Tory MPs are scrambling to find a replacement who can unite the party and turn around its fortunes after a series of dire polls predicted electoral wipe out.
Sky’s deputy political editor Sam Coatessays former chancellor and Tory leadership finalist Rishi Sunak has signalled he is “very, very up for the job”.
And Suella Braverman – who resigned as home secretary on Wednesday– was highly critical of Ms Truss when she stepped down, in a move that allies believe shows she is also keen to step up to the plate.
Coates says: “The question now is who will stand aside and who will survive in an intense, week-long leadership contest.”
Image: How the Tory Party changes its leader
Nominations opened on Thursday and will close at 2pm on Monday – with a new leader to be chosen by Friday 28 October.
The final two candidates will take part in a hustings event organised with news broadcasters, before an online vote for members to choose who they want to lead the party.
However, we could have a new leader sooner than that.
One potential option is that MPs coalesce around one candidate, meaning the contest will be over on Monday if only one person is able to receive enough nominations.
‘Bring back Boris’
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Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries backs Johnson
On Thursday night, momentum appeared to be swinging behind Boris Johnson amid reports he will throw his hat in the ring.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, a staunch Johnson ally, told Sky News she is confident he will meet the 100 MPs threshold.
“There is only one MP who has the mandate of the British public, who won a general election only three years ago with an 80-seat majority, and that was Boris Johnson,” Ms Dorries said.
“He is a known winner and that is certainly who I’m putting my name against because I want us to win the general election. Having a winner in place is what the party needs to survive.”
While multiple Tory MPs have expressed their support for a Johnson comeback, any attempt to return to frontline politics is proving divisive.
Senior backbencher Sir Roger Gale MP tweeted to remind people that the ex-prime minister, who resigned in a mire of sleaze, was still under investigation by the Privileges Committee for potentially misleading the House over partygate.
If found guilty, Mr Johnson could face recall proceedings that would leave him battling for his seat in the Commons if he receives a suspension of 10 days or more.
Sir Roger told Times Radio that, if Mr Johnson is voted back in as PM, he would resign from the Conservative party whip and stand as an independent.
Polling for the Conservatives was already dropping during Mr Johnson’s premiership as it became beset with scandals, including the ex-PM breaking his own lockdown laws.
The final straw was questions about his judgment over Chris Pincher, the then-Tory whip who was the centre of drunken groping allegations. That came on top of Mr Johnson’s attempts to change the rules to prevent the suspension of then-Conservative MP Owen Paterson after he broke lobbying rules.
Ms Truss officially took over from Mr Johnson on 6 September, with members favouring her tax-slashing plan for growth over Mr Sunak’s more conservative fiscal policies.
But just two weeks into the job, her disastrous mini-budget sparked chaos in the financial markets, leading to the sacking of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and a humiliating abandonment of the very economic policies that brought her into office.
Many MPs have voiced their support for Mr Sunak – who had warned Ms Truss that her economic policies were “immoral” and campaigned for fiscal responsibility during the last leadership race.
Jonathan Djanogly and Mark Garnier both tweeted their support for him late on Thursday night.
Richard Holden MP said that in the “difficult economic times, the party and the country needs a PM who has got the economic experience to deliver real stability over the next few years and get the ship of state back on an even keel – and that person is Mr Sunak”.
‘Last chance saloon’
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Labour leader Keir Starmer has spoken to Beth Rigby about Liz Truss’s resignation,
A vicious leadership contest would further divide an already split party which is about to see its third prime minister in the space of a few months – and many Tory MPs are calling for colleagues to unite behind the next leader, whoever that may be.
Justin Tomlinson said the leadership contest is the “last-chance saloon” for the party to maintain credibility, while former cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, warned the Tories face “extinction…if we get this wrong”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Conservative Party has “shown it no longer has a mandate to govern”, adding that British people “deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos”.
Britain’s most-wanted fugitive is still on the run – exactly 20 years after the fatal shooting of a young mother of three.
Kevin Parle is a suspect in the murder of Lucy Hargreaves, 22, who was shot dead at her home in Liverpool before the house was set on fire on 3 August 2005.
Since then, after many appeals for information, there has been no confirmed sighting, word or trace of him.
Two decades on, Ms Hargreaves’ family have had no justice. Two young men prosecuted for her murder had charges dropped when a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence against them.
In a statement marking the anniversary of her death, they said: “The way we lost Lucy is not something families can ever truly come to terms with – it is still incredibly difficult and painful to think about.
“Over the past 20 years, people will have talked with family and friends. A number of people were contacted by males using a phone that was stolen along with a vehicle used in Lucy’s murder.
“We appeal directly to them to please come forward. Now is the time.”
Image: Police prediction of how Kevin Parle has aged since 2005. Pic: Merseyside Police
Three men burst into Lucy’s home 20 years ago today, shot her dead as she slept on a sofa, and set alight the duvet she’d been sleeping under.
It’s believed the gang were looking for her boyfriend Gary Campbell, who was upstairs. He fled from a window with their two-year-old daughter and then tried in vain to save Ms Hargreaves.
Mr Campbell had allegedly been a passenger in a stolen car that had hit and killed a young boy 12 years earlier, supposedly the motive for the shooting. He denied he was in the car at the time.
Image: Ms Hargreaves with her three children
Howard Rubbery, head of the Serious Crime Review Unit at Merseyside Police said: “The family remain absolutely devastated by Lucy’s death.
“It’s important to note Lucy is an absolutely innocent victim. She’s not from a family of criminality. She wasn’t involved in criminality.
“The hunt for Kevin Parle is very much on, and we ask anybody with information, anybody who is close to Parle and knows where he is, to please come forward.
“There were three males responsible for this offence and we are looking for justice for Lucy’s family in relation to all three.
“I do believe that there are people out there who have yet to speak to the police, even though it’s 20 years on, who hold information that’s absolutely vital to our investigation.”
Police believe Parle, now in his 40s, fled to Spain where he hid among the vast expat community with criminal help.
Several years later, I tracked his movements to a holiday complex near Torrevieja, where staff convinced me he had stayed there for several weeks.
Image: Former detective Peter Bleksley says Parle is being protected
‘Huge value to organised crime’
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley, who recently spent four years on a personal hunt for Parle, also visited the complex and said: “He was bold and he was brash and he had a girlfriend at one point.
“The police actually should have captured him there, but they were too late.”
He claimed he nearly caught up with Parle at a villa elsewhere in Spain, but spooked him into disappearing again.
Mr Bleksley hosted an award-winning podcast and wrote a book in which he chronicled his manhunt.
He said: “Kevin Parle has remained hidden because he is funded, protected, looked after and of huge value to global, serious and organised crime.”
Parle can’t be hard to spot – he’s well-built, 6ft 5in tall, red-haired with a face scar and, originally at least, has a Liverpool accent. Of course, he might be dead.
Mr Bleksley said: “I can think of many reasons why certain criminals would want to get rid of Kevin Parle because he could, in terms of evidence about the cases that he’s wanted for, should he flip and become a witness for the Crown, be highly damaging for a lot of very tasty criminals.”
Image: 16-year-old Liam Kelly was shot dead a year before Ms Hargreaves. Pic: Merseyside Police
Parle is also wanted in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Liam Kelly, who was shot dead over an alleged £200 debt in June 2004, a year before Lucy’s death. Parle was arrested and questioned, but then freed on bail.
There have been reports of the fugitive in Australia and Dubai, but nothing to corroborate any of them.
If he’s alive and if no one is prepared to shop him, what might lead to his capture?
“I think when he has a fallout with those who have guarded him, funded him, fed him, put a roof over his head and all of that, maybe even paid for his plastic surgery that could have altered his appearance,” Mr Bleksley said.
“When he finally has a fallout, when he’s no longer of use, then perhaps that will be the day that somebody goes, Peter, he’s here.”
Several demonstrators have been detained after rival groups faced off over a hotel accommodating asylum seekers in north London, with police breaking up brief clashes.
The Metropolitan Police has since imposed conditions on the protest and counter-protest outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington.
The protest was organised by local residents under the banner “Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no”.
The group of several hundred people waved union flags and banners, and one man chanted: “Get these scum off our streets.”
Image: Anti-immigration protesters waved Union Jack flags. Pic: PA
A larger group staged a counter demonstration to voice support for asylum seekers, bearing a banner that read: “Refugees are welcome.”
People inside the hotel, believed to be migrants, watched on, with some waving and blowing kisses from the windows.
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Image: People believed to be asylum seekers waved the hotel windows. Pic: PA
Image: Pro-immigration protesters gathered by the Thistle City Barbican Hotel. Pic: PA
A man wearing an England football shirt was detained by police after getting into an altercation with officers.
There have been nine arrests so far, seven of which were for breaching conditions police put on the protests under the Public Order Act.
Rival groups separated by police
Another protest was scheduled in Newcastle on Saturday, outside The New Bridge Hotel, as anti-migrant sentiment ripples through some communities around the country, also flaring up recently in Epping.
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Last week: Protesters divided over migrant hotels
The counter-protest in London was organised by local branches of Stand Up To Racism, and supported by former Labour leader and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn.
Other community groups including Finsbury Park Mosque and Islington Labour Party were also involved.
Groups online that backed the original protest include “Patriots of Britain” and “Together for the Children”.
At one point, a large group of masked protesters dressed in black, calling themselves anti-fascists, appeared from a side street and marched towards the rival group outside the hotel.
The two groups briefly clashed before police rushed in to separate them.
Image: Pic: PA
Image: Supporters of local protest group ‘Thistle Barbican needs to go – locals say no’. Pic: PA
Why are asylum hotels used?
The government is legally required to provide accommodation and subsistence to destitute asylum seekers while their claims are being decided, most of whom are prohibited from working.
A jump in the use of hotels since 2020 has been attributed to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, a backlog in unresolved asylum cases, and an increase in the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
However, the number of asylum seekers living in hotels has fallen recently, from 38,079 at the end of 2024 to 32,345 at the end of March 2025, according to the Refugee Council.
How police tried to keep groups apart
The police imposed conditions on both groups in London to prevent “serious disorder” and minimise disruption to the community.
Those in the anti-asylum hotel protest were told to remain within King Charles Square, and to gather not before 1pm and wrap up by 4pm.
Those in the counter-protest were to required to stay in an area in Lever Street, and assemble only between 12pm and 4pm, but were still in eye and ear shot of the other group.
Chief Superintendent Clair Haynes, in charge of the policing operation, said: “We have been in discussions with the organisers of both protests in recent days, building on the ongoing engagement between local officers, community groups and partners.
“We understand that there are strongly held views on all sides.
“Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely, but intervening at the first sign of actions that cross the line into criminality.”
Meanwhile, the protest in Newcastle was promoted by online posts saying it was “for our children, for our future”.
The “stop the far right and fascists in Newcastle” counter-protest was organised by Stand Up To Racism at the nearby Laing Art Gallery.
A man has been remanded into custody charged with child cruelty offences after allegedly lacing sweets with sedatives.
Jon Ruben, 76, of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday after youngsters fell ill at a summer camp in Stathern, Leicestershire.
He has been charged with three counts of wilfully assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning or exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.
The charges relate to three boys at the camp between 25-29 July.
Image: The scene in Stathern, Leicestershire. Pic: PA
Ruben spoke only to confirm his name, age and address.
Police received a report of children feeling unwell at a camp being held at Stathern Lodge, near Melton in Leicestershire, last Sunday.
Officers said paramedics attended the scene and eight boys – aged between eight and 11 – were taken to hospital as a precaution, as was an adult. They have since been discharged.
Police said the “owners and operators of Stathern Lodge are independent from those people who use or hire the lodge and are not connected to the incident”.
Leicestershire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, after officers initially reported the incident as having happened on Monday, only to later amend it to Sunday.
It is still unclear when officers responded and whether that is why the watchdog referral has been made.
Ruben will next appear at Leicester Crown Court on 29 August.