The election campaign of candidates for the posts of leader of the ruling Conservative Party and the country's prime minister officially kicked off on Monday in the UK, TASS reported.

And although publicly the intention to fight for the post of Tory leader was announced by 11 people, formal applications for participation in the election race were not yet submitted by anyone.

At the same time, six people - five members of the leadership of the 1922 Committee and Tory chair Brendon Lewis - are deprived of the authority to nominate their party colleagues, but they have the right to participate in the parliamentary vote on the elimination of candidates scheduled for June 13.

According to the new rules introduced by the 1922 Committee, in order to pass to the second round of internal voting, scheduled for June 18, the candidate must enlist the support of at least 5% of deputies from the Tory fraction in the House of Commons (17 deputies) during the first round. However, to reach the third round, it will take 10% of the votes (33 deputies). According to the rules that have been in force until now, only one candidate for the highest party post was eliminated from the struggle, and now, in the first and second rounds those candidates have not reached the specified level of support will also join.

Further elimination of candidates will take place on June 19 and 20, where the last candidate will simply drop out without taking into account the votes cast by the rest of the race. After that, only two applicants should remain on the lists, the fate of which will no longer be determined by the MPs of the House of Commons, but by 160,000 ordinary members of the Conservative Party. The results of the voting held among them will become known only a month later - no earlier than 22 and no later than July 28.

By the time of the official registration of candidates for Tory leaders, 11 people are already informally leading the battle: former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson; Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt; Secretary for International Development Rory Stewart; Secretary of Health and Social Affairs Matt Hancock; Former Secretary of Labor and Pension Affairs Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leeds, Secretary of the Environment, Food and Agricultural Development Michael Gove, Interior Secretary Sajid Javid, former Deputy Secretary of Finance Mark Harper, as well as former Deputy Secretary for Sam Jim's business, energy and industrial strategy.

Johnson is considered the main contender for victory, Gove and Hunt are also among the top three potential successors.