2019 Conservative Party leadership election

The **2019 Conservative Party leadership election** happened when the prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader on 7 June, and resign as Prime Minister when a replacement is elected.

Nominations closed on 10 June 2019 with ten candidates officially being nominated. The first ballot of MPs took place on 13 June. A second one took place on 18 June with a third on 19 June and a fourth and fifth ballot on 20 June. The entire contest is expected to be completed by mid-July. After the fifth ballot, Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson were the final two candidates. The general membership of the party elected Johnson as the leader by postal ballot on 22 July 2019.

## Candidates
### Nominated
The following MPs were officially nominated by the Conservative Party as candidates for the leadership position. Each candidate passed the first five ballots.

File:Official_portrait_of_Mr_Jeremy_Hunt_crop_2.jpg|Foreign Secretary**Jeremy Hunt**from Surrey
File:Boris_Johnson_election_infobox.jpg|Former Foreign Secretary and Mayor of London**Boris Johnson**from Greater London

### Eliminated
#### Fifth ballot
The following MP was eliminated on the fifth ballot on 20 June. They failed to obtain over 24% of the votes to advance further into the contest.

File:Official portrait of Michael Gove crop 2.jpg|Environment Secretary**Michael Gove**from Surrey

#### Fourth ballot
The following MP was eliminated on the fourth ballot on 20 June. They failed to obtain over 50 votes to advance further into the contest.

File:Official portrait of Sajid Javid MP.jpg|Home Secretary**Sajid Javid**from Worcestershire

#### Third ballot
The following MP was eliminated on the third ballot on 19 June. They failed to obtain over 30 votes to advance further into the contest.

File:Official portrait of Rory Stewart crop 2.jpg|International Development Secretary**Rory Stewart**from Cumbria

#### Second ballot
The following MP was eliminated on the second ballot on 18 June. They failed to obtain over 30 votes to advance further into the contest.

File:Official portrait of Dominic Raab crop 2.jpg|Former Brexit Secretary**Dominic Raab**from Surrey

#### First ballot
The following MPs were eliminated on the first ballot on 13 June. They failed to obtain 17 votes to advance further into the contest.

File:Official portrait of Andrea Leadsom crop 2.jpg|Former Leader of the House of Commons**Andrea Leadsom**from Northamptonshire
File:Official portrait of Mr Mark Harper crop 2.jpg|Former Chief Whip**Mark Harper**from Gloucestershire
File:Official_portrait_of_Esther_McVey_crop_2.jpg|Former Work and Pensions Secretary**Esther McVey**from Cheshire

### Withdrawn
#### During the ballot
The following individuals were officially nominated as a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party but then eventually withdrew after the first ballot of the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:

File:Official portrait of Matt Hancock crop 2.jpg|Health Secretary**Matt Hancock**from Suffolk

#### Before the ballot
The following individuals announced that they would seek the leadership of the Conservative Party but then eventually did not stand, or withdrew before the first ballot of the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:

File:Official portrait of James Cleverly crop 2.jpg|Parliamentary Brexit Secretary**James Cleverly**from Essex
File:Official portrait of Mr Sam Gyimah crop 2.jpg|Former Universities Minister**Sam Gyimah**from Surrey
File:Official portrait of Kit Malthouse crop 2.jpg|Housing Secretary**Kit Malthouse**from Hampshire

## Timeline
## Results 
After each ballot of Conservative MPs, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. A new rule was introduced in 2019 due to the number of candidates: In the first ballot, held on 13 June 2019, candidates also needed to pass a threshold of 17 votes to avoid elimination. In the second ballot, held on 18 June, candidates needed to pass a threshold of 33 votes to avoid elimination.

## References