Tory leadership: Who gets to choose the UK’s next prime minister?


Tory leadership: Who gets to choose the UK’s next prime minister?

BBC News :

With Theresa May finally on her way out of Downing Street, a Tory leadership contest that has been bubbling under for months is now starting.

It’s a two-stage process. The first sees votes among Conservative MPs designed to whittle the contenders down to just two front-runners. The second stage sees the party’s grassroots members choose between them in a postal ballot.

In other words, it is members of the public – those who pay £25 a year to join the Conservative Party – who get the final say on who the next prime minister is. There will not be a general election because the party is already in power.

So, who are its members and what do they think on key issues, not least of course Brexit?

We don’t know exactly how many Conservative Party members there are because – unlike the UK’s other parties – the Conservatives don’t regularly release the figures.

The last time they did so was back in March 2018, when they put the figure at 124,000.

That’s larger than some of the more pessimistic guesstimates, but way down on the peak of nearly three million that the party boasted in the early 1950s.

Membership plunged after that before levelling off at around one million in the 1970s and 1980s, since when it has been dropping almost inexorably.

One thing we can be sure of, however, is that the Tories have far fewer members than the Labour Party.

Even if we assume that Labour’s membership has fallen from the late 2017 peak of more than 550,000, it still has a huge advantage over the Conservatives when it comes to campaigning on the ground.

Share This News:

Comments (
0
)

Most Popular


See how painfully slow 4G LTE is in the US compared to the rest of the world

See how painfully slow 4G LTE is in the US compared to the rest of the...

It turns out T-Mobile is a one-eyed man in the land of the blind. In a recent study conducte...

Posted: About 9 years ago
Source: foxnews
Upping physical activity level yields diminishing returns

Upping physical activity level yields diminishing returns

Increasing physical activity to burn more calories works up to a point, but then the body ad...

Posted: About 9 years ago
Source: foxnews
G20: US and China agree to suspend new trade tariffs

G20: US and China agree to suspend new trade tariffs

The two men met in Buenos Aires after the G20 summit for their first talks since a trade war...

Posted: About 6 years ago
Source: BBC News

SIMILAR NEWS

Belgium’s ex-King Albert II submits DNA in paternity case
Posted: About an hour ago

Belgium’s ex-King Albert II submits DNA in paternity case

BBC News : Former Belgian King Albert II has submitted a DNA sample to avoid fines of €5,000 (£4,370...

Source: BBC News
Scottish trials to stop sea eagles stealing lambs
Posted: About an hour ago

Scottish trials to stop sea eagles stealing lambs

BBC News : Potential methods to deter Scotland's growing sea eagle population from stealing lambs are be...

Photographer ‘overwhelmed’ by response to bald eagle picture
Posted: About an hour ago

Photographer ‘overwhelmed’ by response to bald eagle picture

BBC News : A Canadian amateur photographer says he is "overwhelmed" by the worldwide response to a photo...

Tory leadership contest: Michael Gove pledge on EU citizenship applications
Posted: About an hour ago

Tory leadership contest: Michael Gove pledge on EU citizenship applications

BBC News : Michael Gove will allow EU nationals living in the UK at the time of the referendum to apply...


Random News

Trump gets stuck in reverse

Trump gets stuck in reverse

Posted: About 9 years ago
Source: foxnews