Tory leadership race timetable: When the new prime minister will be announced and what happens now

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have made it through the fifth round of the Conservative leadership race.

The pair will now battle it out to succeed Boris Johnson and become the new leader of the party and the next prime minister.

The final two contenders will now be put in front of the Conservative party's 200,000 members to select a winner, following rounds of elimination run by the MPs.

When will the next prime minister be announced?

The winner will be announced on Monday, September 5.

Conservative leadership candidates have been forced to agree in writing that they will not withdraw from the contest if they are one of the final two names put to a vote of the party's members, under new plans to stop MPs stitching up who is the next prime minister.

Senior Tories are desperate to stop one of the candidates withdrawing from the contest as Dame Andrea Leadsom did in 2016, handing the leadership unchallenged to the overwhelming favourite Theresa May before members were given a chance to vote.

The Telegraph understands that leadership rules include a "Leadsom clause", under which any candidate who makes it to the final two will have to submit themselves to a vote of party members.

The new Conservative leader and prime minister will have two days to prepare for their first meeting with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday, September 7.

Latest news

Match report: What happened in round five?

Penny Mordaunt was voted out of the Tory leadership race after winning the lowest number of votes in the final MPs' ballot, sending Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss through to the final.

A total of 357 votes were cast, with two spoilt ballots. Ms Mordaunt came in third with 105, Rishi Sunak came out on top with 137, while Liz Truss was third with 113.

Match report: What happened in round four?

Liz Truss received a surge in support as she battles it out against Penny Mordaunt to face Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership election run-off after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated.

Ms Truss picked up 15 votes to command the support of 86 Tory MPs in the penultimate ballot, as the right of the party appears to be coalescing around her in the race for No 10.

Ms Mordaunt increased her share by 10 to sit on 92, while Mr Sunak gained an extra three votes to put him in 118, just shy of the number effectively guaranteeing him entry to the final phase.

Ms Badenoch came last in the ballot on 59 votes, with Ms Truss believed to be more likely to pick up a significant number of those votes than Ms Mordaunt during the next ballot to be held on Wednesday.

Match report: What happened in round three?

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak remained in the lead, picking up 115 votes in the third round of voting on Monday, followed by Penny Mordaunt on 82 votes, Liz Truss on 71 and Kemi Badenoch on 58.

Tom Tugendhat was eliminated, securing just 31 votes.

Match report: What happened in round two?

Suella Braverman was knocked out on Thursday in the second round.

The results were announced by Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, with Rishi Sunak out in the lead with 101 votes and Penny Mordaunt on 83.

On Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi were eliminated in the first round after falling short of the 30 votes needed to proceed.

The face-off begins

Three sets of hustings occurred on Monday, July 18 - one by the 1922 Committee and open to all Tory MPs, one by the 92 group of senior Tory MPs and one by the anti-woke Common Sense group.

Officials at Conservative Central Office will now take over and organise a series of hustings in the party's regional bases around the country for members to be able to grill the two remaining contenders.

The hustings - which in 2019 were held in places like Belfast, York, Darlington, Perth, Nottingham and Cardiff - will allow thousands of voting members to question the final two.

Tory members will be encouraged to vote for their choice to be the next leader of the Conservative party by post by late August.

This article is kept updated with the latest information.