2019 Conservative Party leadership election

The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election happened when the prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader on 7 June, and resign as Prime Minister when a replacement is elected.

2019 Conservative Party leadership election

7 June – 23 July 2019 (2019-06-07 – 2019-07-23)
Full results for all candidates below
Opinion polls
Turnout	87.4%
Candidate Boris Johnson Jeremy Hunt Fifth MPs' ballot 160 (51.1%) 77 (24.6%) Members' vote 92,153 (66.1%) 46,656 (33.5%)
Leader before election Theresa May Elected Leader Boris Johnson

Nominations closed on 10 June 2019 with ten candidates officially being nominated. The first ballot of MPs took place on 13 June. A second one took place on 18 June with a third on 19 June and a fourth and fifth ballot on 20 June. The entire contest is expected to be completed by mid-July. After the fifth ballot, Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson were the final two candidates. The general membership of the party elected Johnson as the leader by postal ballot on 22 July 2019.

Nominated

The following MPs were officially nominated by the Conservative Party as candidates for the leadership position. Each candidate passed the first five ballots.

• 

  Foreign Secretary
  Jeremy Hunt
  (MP for South West Surrey)
  from Surrey

• 

  Former Foreign Secretary and Mayor of London
  Boris Johnson
  (MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
  from Greater London

Fifth ballot

The following MP was eliminated on the fifth ballot on 20 June. They failed to obtain over 24% of the votes to advance further into the contest.

• 

  Environment Secretary
  Michael Gove
  (MP for Surrey Heath)
  from Surrey

Fourth ballot

The following MP was eliminated on the fourth ballot on 20 June. They failed to obtain over 50 votes to advance further into the contest.

• 

  Home Secretary
  Sajid Javid
  (MP for Bromsgrove)
  from Worcestershire
  (endorsed Johnson)

Third ballot

The following MP was eliminated on the third ballot on 19 June. They failed to obtain over 30 votes to advance further into the contest.

• 

  International Development Secretary
  Rory Stewart
  (MP for Penrith and the Border)
  from Cumbria
  (endorsed Hunt)

Second ballot

The following MP was eliminated on the second ballot on 18 June. They failed to obtain over 30 votes to advance further into the contest.

• 

  Former Brexit Secretary
  Dominic Raab
  (MP for Esher and Walton)
  from Surrey
  (endorsed Johnson)

First ballot

The following MPs were eliminated on the first ballot on 13 June. They failed to obtain 17 votes to advance further into the contest.

• 

  Former Leader of the House of Commons
  Andrea Leadsom
  (MP for South Northamptonshire)
  from Northamptonshire
  (endorsed Johnson)

• 

  Former Chief Whip
  Mark Harper
  (MP for Forest of Dean)
  from Gloucestershire
  (endorsed Stewart)

• 

  Former Work and Pensions Secretary
  Esther McVey
  (MP for Tatton)
  from Cheshire
  (endorsed Johnson)

During the ballot

The following individuals were officially nominated as a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party but then eventually withdrew after the first ballot of the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:

• 

  Health Secretary
  Matt Hancock
  (MP for West Suffolk)
  from Suffolk
  Withdrew:
  14 June
  (endorsed Johnson)

Before the ballot

The following individuals announced that they would seek the leadership of the Conservative Party but then eventually did not stand, or withdrew before the first ballot of the race, due to insufficient support or other reasons:

• 

  Parliamentary Brexit Secretary
  James Cleverly
  (MP for Braintree)
  from Essex
  Withdrew:
  4 June
  (endorsed Johnson)

• 

  Former Universities Minister
  Sam Gyimah
  (MP for East Surrey)
  from Surrey
  Withdrew:
  10 June

• 

  Housing Secretary
  Kit Malthouse
  (MP for North West Hampshire)
  from Hampshire
  Withdrew:
  4 June
  (endorsed Johnson)

Timeline

Candidate status
	Candidate on membership ballot
	Candidate eliminated during MP ballots
	Candidate withdrew
Events
	Theresa May announces resignation
	Theresa May resigns as Conservative leader
	Nominations close
	MP ballot
	Postal ballots distributed to party members
	Final leadership hustings
	Results announced

Results

After each ballot of Conservative MPs, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. A new rule was introduced in 2019 due to the number of candidates: In the first ballot, held on 13 June 2019, candidates also needed to pass a threshold of 17 votes to avoid elimination. In the second ballot, held on 18 June, candidates needed to pass a threshold of 33 votes to avoid elimination.

Candidate	First ballot: 13 June 2019		Second ballot: 18 June 2019		Third ballot: 19 June 2019		Fourth ballot: 20 June 2019		Fifth ballot: 20 June 2019		Members' vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Boris Johnson	114	36.4	126	40.3	143	45.7	157	50.2	160	51.1	92,153	66.1
Jeremy Hunt	43	13.7	46	14.7	54	17.3	59	18.8	77	24.6	46,656	33.5
Michael Gove	37	11.8	41	13.1	51	16.3	61	19.5	75	24.0	Eliminated
Sajid Javid	23	7.3	33	10.5	38	12.1	34	10.9	Eliminated
Rory Stewart	19	6.1	37	11.8	27	8.6	Eliminated
Dominic Raab	27	8.6	30	9.6	Eliminated
Matt Hancock	20	6.4	Withdrew
Andrea Leadsom	11	3.5	Eliminated
Mark Harper	10	3.2	Eliminated
Esther McVey	9	2.9	Eliminated
Spoilt ballots	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	2	0.6	1	0.3	509	0.4
Turnout	313	100.0	313	100.0	313	100.0	313	100.0	313	100.0	139,318	87.4

2019 Conservative Party Leadership Election Media

• 

  Portrait of Boris Johnson

• 

  May announces her pending resignation outside 10 Downing Street on 24 May 2019; she left office on 24 July

• 

  Boris Johnson official portrait (cropped)