Rishi Sunak gambled his political future by calling a General Election and he is standing aside as Conservative leader after a hefty defeat at the polls.
After 14 years in power, the Tories are now sitting on the opposition benches after being routed by Labour and losing 250 seats just five years on from winning a majority under Boris Johnson.
Sunak formally tendered his resignation as Prime Minister in the wake of his defeat and announced in his farewell speech outside 10 Downing Street that he will be quitting as Tory leader, which fired the starting gun on the race to be the next party bigwig. Woof!
Next Conservative leader odds can be found on the Paddy Power website and Paddy Power app, otherwise, details of the leading contenders to be the next Tory chief are below.
Read More: Next Labour Leader Odds | UK General Election Results
Robert Jenrick is the favourite with Paddy Power to be the next Conservative leader after topping the first round of voting among Tory MPs with 28.
He saw his vote share in Newark collapse by -23.9 but just about held on and fancies a crack at the top job after holding a string of jobs in the previous government.
Kemi Badenoch is second in the betting with Paddy Power to be the next Conservative leader after bagging 22 votes in the first round of polling among Tory MPs.
She is in the House Of Commons after holding the constituency of North West Essex and had a previous crack at the top job in 2022 when losing out to Liz Truss.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly is one of the few big-hitters still standing after the Conservatives’ collapse at the General Election and is proving popular among Tory MPs after sailing through to the second round of voting among his colleagues with 21 votes.
Tom Tugendhat is fourth in the betting and is, arguably, the most viable candidate if the Tories opt to reposition themselves closer to the centre ground in the post-Sunak era.
The former Minister of State for Security could only secure 17 votes – beating Mel Stride and Priti Patel, who was knocked out – in the first round of voting among Tory MPs.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
The race to be the next Conservative leader
Conservative MPs are voting to whittle down the number of candidates to two before party members get their say.
Robert Jenrick – 28
Kemi Badenoch – 22
James Cleverly – 21
Tom Tugendhat – 17
Mel Stride – 16
Priti Patel – 14
Priti Patel was knocked out in the first round. The second ballot will be held on Monday, 9th September.
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