Sir Graham Brady, who has held the seat since 1922 and spoke to Mr Johnson at around 8.30am. today, he agreed only that a new prime minister should be in place by October for the party conference. It remains unclear exactly when Johnson will hand over power to his successor now that he is stepping down. According to the timings discussed by Sir Graham, this could happen earlier than October. Control over when and how the Prime Minister hands over power is not in Mr Johnson’s hands alone. Senior Committee of 1922 backbenchers control the first part of the leadership contest – whittling the Tory MP candidates down to a final two. The second phase, in which Tory Party members vote for the winning candidate – usually after weeks of leadership – is controlled by the Tory Party board. The executive body of the new 1922 Commission is expected to agree the timetable for the first phase on Monday evening, after elections for those positions are held on Monday evening. The Telegraph understands it may be agreed to get Tory MPs to choose two final candidates before Parliament breaks up for the summer recess on July 21 – just three weeks away. Decisions will be made on Monday afternoon.
