Boris Johnson latest news: Tories to vote in first ballot today to find next leader

Eight contenders will be on the ballot paper when Tory MPs begin voting today to elect a successor to Boris Johnson.

All the 358 Conservative MPs will cast their ballot first today then later on Thursday and continue to hold ballots until the party finds two finalists.

The candidates that cleared the first hurdle of the race to succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister are Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, Jeremy Hunt, Nadhim Zahawi and Suella Braverman.

Former health secretary Sajid Javid failed to make the cut to the next round as he did not receive the 20 MP nominations needed.

Grant Shapps and backbencher Rehman Chishti dropped out of the race before the deadline passed.

Meanwhile, Labour said that the government has shown an “abuse of power” by blocking the party’s request for the no-confidence vote to take place on Wednesday.