Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is all set to confirm his candidacy to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, two days after current PM Liz Truss announced her resignation, reports the BBC.
Sunak is reportedly the first to receive the backing of 100 Conservative MPs - the threshold needed to get on the ballot.
Sunak, who came second in the previous leadership election, Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons who came third in the previous leadership election, and Boris Johnson, who was the leader and Prime Minister before Truss, are seen as the most likely candidates.
Johnson, no stranger to controversy, had earlier planned to cut short a holiday and fly back to the UK early. While many Tory MPs support him, others have said that they would not serve under him, were he elected. He returned to London on Saturday, with UK Trade minister Sir James Duddridge saying that the former prime minister told him that he was "up for it."
Mordaunt was reported to be taking soundings as to whether she should run on the evening of October 20. On October 21, she became the first candidate to officially enter the leadership election.
Nominations close at 2 p.m. (local time) on October 24, with candidates being required to obtain nominations from at least 100 MPs before the nomination deadline. With 357 current Conservative MPs, this means there can be, at most, three candidates.
If three candidates fulfil the nomination threshold, a ballot of Conservative MPs will be held to eliminate one. An indicative vote by Conservative MPs between the final two will then be held.
Subsequently, there will be an online vote for Conservative Party members to choose between the two remaining candidates. If only one candidate achieves the nomination requirement, they would automatically become the party leader.
