Conservative leadership: How does the contest work and who chooses the winner?

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick were the final two candidates competing to become the new Conservative Party leader.

The winner will be revealed shortly after 11:00 GMT on Saturday.

Rishi Sunak formally stood down after leading the Tories to their worst performance at a general election in July, but has stayed on as acting leader until his replacement is announced.

That person will be the sixth Tory leader in less than eight and a half years.

How did the Tory leadership candidates emerge?

Each candidate needed the support of at least 10 MPs to get on to the ballot, including a proposer and seconder. MPs could nominate only one candidate per round of voting.

This was a much lower bar than during the last leadership election in 2022, when hopefuls needed the backing of 100 MPs. Sunak was the only one to enter the race with that level of support and so became the party leader.

There are currently 121 Tory MPs, but those who are also whips or sit on the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee could not nominate a candidate.

Applicants were also told they would each need to raise £200,000 for the party to progress to the final four.

On 29 July, the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee announced six contenders had met the requirements: Badenoch, James Cleverly, Jenrick, Dame Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat.

How did six candidates become two?

After nominations closed on 29 July, candidates had five and a half weeks to try to impress their fellow MPs before going to the polls.

BBC political editor Chris Mason said he understood Sunak did not vote, meaning there was an electorate of 120.

On 4 September, two days after Parliament returned, a first round of voting among Conservative MPs reduced the field from six to five contenders, with Dame Priti - who came last - eliminated from the contest.

On 10 September, five became four, after a second Tory MP vote knocked out Stride.

The final four had a number of opportunities to speak directly to Conservative members at the party's conference in Birmingham.

Conservative MPs voted again in Westminster on 8 October.

Tugendhat was eliminated after gaining the fewest votes. Cleverly came first, up from third place in the previous MPs' ballot.

But Cleverly was knocked out in a final MPs' vote on 9 October.

Badenoch topped the poll with 42 votes, with Jenrick close behind on 41.

Who decides which candidate becomes the next Tory leader?

Conservative members cast their votes between 15 October and 31 October to decide the winner.

They made their choice via secure online voting, though this system has previously been criticised for its susceptibility to hackers and rogue state interference.

In recent years, party members have tended to pick the more right-wing candidate of the final two. In the first of two leadership elections in 2022, Sunak consistently won more support from MPs than Liz Truss during each round before party members ultimately opted for Truss.

To be eligible to vote, party members had to have been active for 90 days before the ballot closed and to have been party members when nominations opened.

The new leader of the Conservative Party will be announced on Saturday morning - at which point Sunak will hand over the reins.

The winner will become the official leader of the opposition and of Tory efforts to rebuild the party.