Candidates lining up to replace May

Should UK Prime Minister Theresa May lose the no-confidence vote in her leadership, a general election would not be automatically triggered. Instead, the Conservative party would hold a leadership contest to replace May.

But even if May wins that contest, she still faces a fractured party that is bitterly divided over Brexit — and the deal she negotiated with the European Union over the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc. Lose, and there’s a leadership race.

If there is more than one candidate, a secret ballot of party MPs whittles down the field, with the candidate with the lowest votes being eliminated. Ballots will be held each Tuesday and Thursday until two candidates remain.

These two candidates are then put to a postal ballot of the wider Conservative party membership — though in essence the one with least support among MPs is likely to stand aside and concede. That occurred in 2017, when Andrea Leadsom conceded to May, who had the backing of a clear majority of MPs.