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The Conservatives are preparing to plunge into a bitter leadership battle after Rishi Sunak led his party to a historic defeat.
He announced his resignation as Tory leader on Friday morning as he left Downing Street for the last time.
The choice of his successor will shape the future of the party as it prepares to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the next four or five years.
Here, the Telegraph takes a look at some of the potential contenders to replace him.
Kemi Badenoch
Outgoing Business Secretary, and MP for North West Essex. Also minister for women and equalities, Mrs Badenoch is the current bookies’ favourite to be the next Tory leader. She also had the highest net satisfaction rating of any Cabinet minister among readers of the influential Conservative Home website in May. She came fourth in the contest to succeed Boris Johnson in July 2022, and has hinted at a potential Tory leadership run after the election.
Tom Tugendhat
Outgoing security minister and MP for Tonbridge and Malling. The former soldier has seen a surge in interest by those making political bets. Another candidate for the left of the party, Mr Tugendhat is now second-favourite with the bookies.
Priti Patel
Former home secretary and MP for Witham. Tipped as a grassroots favourite, Ms Patel was recently urged by supporters to stand for the Tory leadership if the party was defeated at the election. Friends said she had not ruled out the possibility of standing but was focused on retaining her Witham constituency in Essex.
Suella Braverman
The former home secretary is MP for Fareham and Waterlooville. Despite remaining popular with the Tory base, who admired her tough stance on illegal migration, Ms Braverman might struggle to beat Mrs Badenoch for the support of the Right of the party, having made an early exit in the 2022 leadership race.
James Cleverly
Outgoing Home Secretary and MP for Braintree. Having served as education secretary, foreign secretary, and now Home Secretary, Mr Cleverly is one of the Cabinet’s more experienced pairs of hands, though he ranked only 14th among ministers in Conservative Home’s poll in May.
Robert Jenrick
The former immigration minister has also been a secretary of state for housing as well as a health minister in his 10-year career so far as an MP. It has been suggested Mr Jenrick has been preparing for a tilt at the top job for a while and reports suggest he is already prepping his leadership bid after keeping his Newark seat. The qualified solicitor and former student journalist is seen as a right-leaning but sensible voice within the Tory party. He recently wrote an article where he said the Conservative party is the “natural home for Reform voters” and some hope he could unite the right of the party with Nigel Farage voters to strengthen the Tory base in the next election.
David Cameron
Former prime minister, now a member of the House of Lords. The Tory constitution says the head of the party has to be an MP. If he renounces his peerage and runs for Parliament - for example, at a by-election - the outgoing Foreign Secretary could technically make a dramatic return as Tory leader. However, this is extremely unlikely to happen. The former premier may also pay heed to the fact that he had a negative approval rating with Conservative Home readers in May.
Nigel Farage
Leader of Reform UK and MP for Clacton-on-Sea. Mr Farage did his best to unseat as many Tory (and Labour) MPs as possible, presumably making him rather unpopular with the Conservative base. But some have speculated he could take the reins from Mr Sunak by defecting from inside Westminster.
Boris Johnson
The former prime minister is not currently an MP, having given up his seat in June last year and opted not to run again. But, like Lord Cameron, there is a very small possibility he could find his way back - whether that's this time round, or the next.
MPs who have ruled themselves out
Some have already ruled out a bid at the leadership
Jeremy Hunt
There had been speculation that the now former chancellor could make another leadership run after unexpectedly hanging on to his Godalming and Ash seat at Thursday's election despite being widely expected to lose. He came second to Boris Johnson in 2019 and was seen as a potentially unifying figure, but told GB News: "No... That time has passed."
Contenders who were ousted
Several high-profile would-be leaders lost their seats
Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt, the outgoing Commons Leader, ended up losing her seat by fewer than 1,000 votes, basically ruling her out of the race. She had been tipped as a contender after coming third in the 2022 leadership contest, and represented the Tories in two recent TV debates. Ms Mordaunt had boosted her popularity and her name recognition with her prominent ceremonial role at last year’s Coronation.
Steve Baker
Tory minister Steve Baker lost Wycombe to Labour candidate Emma Reynolds. Mr Baker had indicated that he would put his name forward if he had retained his seat, where he has a majority of just 4,214, on July 4. He was previously a senior Tory backbencher, chairing the European Research Group (ERG) of Brexiteer MPs twice during the run up to Britain’s formal departure from the European Union on January 31 2020.