Johnson has resigned, how can he form a new government?published at 18:14 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

18:14 BST 8 July 2022

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

John Fitzsimmons asks: Hang on a minute, Boris Johnson just resigned and he's forming a new government. Exactly how does that work?

Boris Johnson is still prime minister until someone else is. And it looks like this will be the case until we have a new Conservative Party leader.

Therefore he has the right - and an obligation - to keep the business of government ticking over. That means he needs new ministers - remember, lots of them resigned recently.

Some of them may well only be in post for a matter of weeks, as a new party leader will want to appoint their own top team.

Why hasn't a general election been called?published at 18:11 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

18:11 BST 8 July 2022

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC political correspondent

Mark Jude asks: Why isn't there a general election? I voted for Boris.

That’s not how our system works. We elect MPs to represent us, and provided a government can be formed that commands a majority in the House of Commons, then there’s no obligation for an election to take place as government can function.

This has been a fairly common occurrence in recent years. Gordon Brown, Theresa May and Boris Johnson all became PM without immediate elections.

Answering your questions on the situation in Westminsterpublished at 18:08 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

18:08 BST 8 July 2022

Image source, Reuters

Following days of drama in Westminster you've been emailing us asking what happens next in the Conservative Party leadership election, how a new cabinet is formed and many more questions.

BBC political correspondent David Wallace Lockhart has been busy answering your queries.

Stay with us and we'll provide David's answers over the next few hours.

Downing Street has announced a series of new ministerial appointments:

• Peter Bone has been made the new deputy leader of the House of Commons

• Andrew Griffith has been made parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for International Trade
• Jane Hunt is now parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
• Karl McCartney has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Transport
• James Morris has been made parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care
• Andrea Jenkyns is now parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Education
• Simon Baynes has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state jointly at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office
• Steve Double has been made parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Amanda Solloway is now parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Home Office, and parliamentary under-secretary of state (minister for equalities) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Phil Mackie
Midlands correspondent

All week we have been speaking to voters across the country to find out what they make of the latest developments from Westminster. Today we're in Wolverhampton market.

Ade Williams, who was out shopping with his son Tayo, is an NHS carer.

He's had to take on extra hours to make ends meet and has less time to spend with his family as a result.

He thinks the political uncertainty is making things harder, and despite saying that Boris Johnson did "some good things", believes that whoever takes over as Conservative leader ought to call a general election.

Gary Anderson, a paralegal, is a huge Boris Johnson fan.

He always voted Labour until Brexit, and switched his vote afterwards because he felt the Conservatives best represented his views.

He believes the prime minister has been the victim of a media witch hunt, and would prefer him to stay. He said he would like Liz Truss to take over, even though she voted for Remain.

Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Boris Johnson had been expected to front regular news conferences to explain the government's approach to the economic challenges the country is facing. But his spokesman has confirmed they won't now happen after he resigned as Conservative Party leader yesterday.

Johnson says the government will focus on delivering pre-agreed policies and manifesto commitments, and that he won't seek to introduce "large fiscal changes” or to unpick previously agreed policies.

It's understood measures that were expected - like the public sector pay review and the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill - will progress as planned.

Ione Wells
Political Correspondent, BBC News

Image source, PA Media

Rishi Sunak had been widely tipped for any future Conservative Party leadership race - and now it is official he is running.

There was some doubt thrown on the idea of a leadership bid after a couple of incidents tainted his brand. Firstly, he was fined for a Covid rule breach in Downing Street, along with the prime minister. Then reports emerged of his wife's "non-dom" tax status.

However, he has received a lot of praise this week from his Tory backbench colleagues for being one of the first cabinet ministers to resign from Boris Johnson's government.

In terms of grassroots appeal, his public profile rocketed during the Covid pandemic when he was involved in support for business, such as the furlough scheme.

We know the challenge of economic recovery from the pandemic caused some tensions between Sunak and Johnson.

Sunak has always emphasised that, by nature, he's a "low tax Tory" and believes in fiscal responsibility, but recognised there were difficult decisions to be made over public spending.

He may be challenged about his views on taxation and tax cuts as part of this leadership bid.

Aoife Walsh
BBC News Live reporter

Rishi Sunak has launched his leadership bid and with it a new website, Ready4Rishi.com, external, to promote his campaign.

We checked the history of the domain name for Ready4Rishi.com and found it was registered on Wednesday, 6 July - the day after Sunak quit as chancellor and the day before Boris Johnson resigned as Conservative Party leader.

Image source, .

We also checked the history of the similarly-named ReadyForRishi.com, which redirects to Ready4Rishi.com.

We don't know who set ReadyForRishi.com up, but that domain name was registered on 23 December, 2021, long before Sunak quit.

Image source, .

Faisal Islam
BBC Economics Editor

Image source, Getty Images

Let's rewind back to the dramatic events of Tuesday. In his resignation letter, the then-chancellor Rishi Sunak said he felt his approach to the economy was "fundamentally too different" to that of PM Boris Johnson.

Johnson had planned a joint speech with Sunak - which would have been held next week - on the cost of living crisis.

But they could not agree its contents.

Sunak was keen to draw a line under the kind of support that had made him popular.

But No 10's instincts were to borrow more, tax less and support households more.

Clearly, personal tensions also emerged - over a push to oust the PM in January and leaked stories about the chancellor's own finances.

Read more

Rishi Sunak's campaign for the Conservative leadership has already secured the support of a number of MPs.

The Leader of the Commons Mark Spencer, former chief whip Mark Harper, and former PPSs Laura Trott and Jacob Young are all publicly backing Sunak, who quit the cabinet on Tuesday.

Here's a little bit more from Rishi Sunak, who has just announced he's running in the race to become next Conservative Party leader and PM.

In a video shared on Twitter, Sunak speaks about his family's roots in Britain - how his grandmother moved to the UK in the 1960s before her family could follow her a year later, and how his mother studied to become a pharmacist and later met Sunak's father.

"It was Britain, our country, that gave them and millions like them the chance of a better future," he says, adding that he got into politics because he wants everyone to the same opportunities as him.

Sunak says the UK is facing huge challenges, and the decisions made today "will decide whether the next generation of British people will also have the chance of a better future".

He says he wants to lead the country "in the right direction".

"We've had enough of division. Politics at its best is a unifying endeavour, and I have spent my career bringing people together because that is the only way to succeed," he says.

Rishi Sunak has announced his leadership bid with a slick video posted to Twitter, drawing on his family's story and parents' hopes on immigrating to Britain.

It ends with a logo and the slogan for his campaign: Ready for Rishi.

He says "someone has to grip the moment" – and he says that's why he is pitching himself as the next PM.

Image source, PA Media

As we've been reporting, Rishi Sunak has launched his bid to replace Boris Johnson and become the next prime minister and Conservative party leader.

But who is Rishi Sunak?

• Once seen as a favourite to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative leader
• Reputation dented by a controversy over his wife's tax affairs and being fined for breaching lockdown rules
• Became an MP in 2015 - for the North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond
• Was chancellor of the exchequer less than five years later in 2020
• Grappled with the coronavirus pandemic, spending huge amounts to keep the economy afloat
• One of the first to quit the cabinet with minister and friend Sajid Javid, paving the way for the stream of resignations

Read more about the other possible candidates here.

Rishi Sunak – who dramatically quit as chancellor on Tuesday - has launched a leadership bid to become the next Conservative leader and prime minister.

Sunak's departure from office, along with that of Health Secretary Sajid Javid, triggered a wave of resignations which forced Boris Johnson to step down as Tory leader.

Image source, .

Between Tuesday evening and Thursday morning, more than 50 members of Boris Johnson's government resigned - while Michael Gove was sacked.

Since Mr Johnson agreed to step down, Downing Street has been busy filling those vacant positions. The latest ministerial appointments have been announced:

• Richard Fuller becomes Economic Secretary to the Treasury
• Alan Mak Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
• Stuart Andrew Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice
• Sarah Dines Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, jointly at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office
• Rehman Chishti Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign Office
• Lia Nici Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Brendan Clarke-Smith Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education

Upbeat Starmer highlights 'integrity and honesty'published at 15:34 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

15:34 BST 8 July 2022

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

"A good week for the Labour party," said Sir Keir Starmer, understandably upbeat at a news conference in Westminster this afternoon after the question mark over his leadership dissolved.

He won't be able to contrast himself with Boris Johnson for much longer – but Sir Keir still wanted to talk about integrity and honesty, painting himself as a future prime minister who would restore faith in politics.

He's got one eye on a general election – pushing for a confidence vote in Parliament if Tory MPs don’t speed up Boris Johnson’s departure.

Sir Keir - now firmly staying in post - can begin his pitch to the country.

Mary Kelly Foy has expressed her frustration over the second police investigation into so-called Beergate.

But the Labour MP for the City of Durham told the BBC the outcome shows "that we've got integrity, honesty and decency".

Foy added that this was in contrast to the actions of PM Boris Johnson.

"We've seen now the shambles of a government and Boris Johnson, and some of those around him have backed him up when he's continuously lied and continuously changing his rules.

"He's shown no integrity at all - it's absolutely outrageous," she said.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

The main message we got from Sir Keir Starmer was the one we expected. He was saying truth and integrity matter – and that's why he said he would resign if he was fined by Durham Police.

It's interesting that Starmer said this wasn't designed to be a political risk. It was, to many extents, a political risk and I'm sure he is breathing a sigh of relief.

What was also interesting was that it is quite clear the Labour leader is going to use this as a launch pad to try and get on the political front foot.

For the past year it's been the crisis at Westminster, some of the questions about Boris Johnson, all the scandals around Downing Street which have really dominated political discourse.

It's clear Sir Keir wants to get out there and explain a bit more about who he is as a politician, what he wants to do and what he stands for.

In case you missed it, here's Keir Starmer's full statement to the media.

The Labour leader said he had always insisted no rules were broken.

Read more.

Starmer rules out going into coalition with the SNP after the next general election.

"There will be no deal going into a general election and no deal coming out of a general election," he says.

"There is no basis for an alliance with a party who wants to break up the United Kingdom," he says of the SNP.

What about with the Lib Dems? Starmer says he wants a Labour majority and that's what they're fighting for.

And that concludes the press conference.