Eight candidates make it onto the ballot for the Conservative Party leadership contest
Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi received the support of at least 20 MPs
Sajid Javid and Rehman Chishti withdraw from the contest just minutes before the deadline
Candidates are pitching their bids to fellow Tory MPs at a closed hustings in Westminster. They each have 12 minutes to speak
Successful contenders will go through to a vote on Wednesday, with the final two candidates selected before the end of next week
The winner will be announced on 5 September
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We're pausing our live coverage of Conservative Party leadership contest shortly.
But before we go here's a recap of today's main developments:
Leadership hopeful Suella Braverman says there are "too many people" on benefits and plans to reduce the cost of the welfare state if she becomes prime minister.
Asked by the BBC how she would pay for her tax reduction proposals, the attorney general calls for a spending review to look at "where we can properly cut back on inefficient usage of tax payer's money" in the size of the state and civil service.
Braverman adds she is "very interested in looking at the welfare bill" as a way to pay for tax reductions.
Her tax proposals include lowering corporation tax, as well as a cut in VAT on fuel and energy bills.
Braverman says the government must be "more rigorous in the entitlements to benefits" to make sure there is greater incentives to get people "back into economic activity".
Quote MessageWhilst Universal Credit made some very important progress, we still have far too many people who are of working age, healthy and choosing to work part time and have their full time wage topped up by welfare and therefore tax payers money."
Tory leadership: Nadhim Zahawi says low taxation is "freedom", and pledges to reduce tax
As we've been reporting, the newly-appointed Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi also launched his leadership campaign today.
He says low taxation means "freedom", and pledges to reduce tax if he becomes prime minister.
Zahawai also warned the cost of living crisis is a national economic emergency made worse by "taxing hardworking families".
Former vice-chairman of the Conservative Party Bim Afolami says he is backing Rishi Sunak for leader because the ex-chancellor "understands the economy", has the necessary experience in government and is a "true Conservative".
Asked by the BBC why Sunak is out of step with other candidates who are proposing to slash taxes, Afolami says the former chancellor has set out "responsible" plans for the public finances, given the cost of the Covid pandemic.
Eleven candidates have come forward so far in the race to replace Boris Johnson. He resigned last week after a revolt among his MPs and ministers.
The contender with the most declared supporters among MPs is currently former chancellor Rishi Sunak, followed by trade minister Penny Mordaunt and backbencher Tom Tugendhat.
Other candidates could still enter the race - Home Secretary Priti Patel is thought to be weighing up whether to run.
The contest so far has been dominated by the issue of taxation, with nearly all of the candidates pledging cuts to personal or business taxes, or both.
Sir Graham Brady, head of the Conservative committee which makes the rules on leadership elections has confirmed the final two leadership contenders will be narrowed down before MPs break up for the Summer recess on 21 July,
The final result of the ballot of Conservative members, and therefore a new leader and new PM, will come on 5 September.
But how will we get there?
Nominations will close on Tuesday, with candidates each needing 20 backers from among Tory MPs to go forward.
The first ballot of Tory MPs is expected to take place on Wednesday from 13:30 to 15:30, with a result being announced later that day.
To progress from there to the next stage, candidates will need at least 30 votes from MPs.
Then a second ballot is expected to happen on Thursday.
Once the rounds of votes have whittled the field down to two candidates, the choice will go out to Conservative Party members.
Over the summer, there will be around a dozen hustings around the country, where the two rivals will try to persuade the party faithful of their bid.
Brady says Conservative Party members will be able vote electronically and by postal vote to select their final choice.
Chris Mason
Political editor
The crowded field of candidates, a row about tax - and the rules of the race.
And we now have the rules and the timetable.
Firstly, the key likely date beyond the noise here: the country will have a new prime minister by Monday 5 September at the latest.
What follows is a noisy sprint in Westminster in the next 10 days and then a six-week dash around the country wooing Conservative Party members.
The party has had to strike a balance between getting on with things and giving the party a chance for a hearty debate about its future.
Requiring 20 nominations to get on the ballot paper may prove tricky for some, but it's not as high a hurdle as some had thought it might be.
And getting to 30 nominations to make the second round will knock out some more, although again it's not as high as the 10% of the parliamentary party, 36, suggested by some over the weekend.
In short, very quickly, this broad field will narrow considerably - and then it will prove crucial where the supporters of some of the early drop outs go to next.
Then a big question - does the parliamentary party try to prevent a candidate getting to the final two, when party members get the final say?
Once the list is down to two, do both decide to contest it with the party membership?
That did happen last time, with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt.
It didn't happen the time before, when Andrea Leadsom dropped out - meaning Theresa May became prime minister much more quickly than would have happened otherwise.
Asked why it will take until the 5 September for the announcement of a new leader of the Conservative Party, Brady says it's a balance between fitting in as many hustings meetings with party members and the "practicalities of organising the ballot".
He tells the BBC the 1922 Committee were determined the election should be over by the time Parliament returns in September.
Sir Graham Brady says the result of the leadership election will be announced on Monday 5 September.
Brady's asked what date the final two candidates should be decided by.
He says he hopes they will be chosen "relatively quickly", with plans for the first two ballots this week and further ballots next week - probably on Monday.
He says it "may be that we reach the final two at that point".
Asked if the proposal discriminates against less well known candidates, Brady says the committee has tried to find a balance so the contest can be concluded "reasonably rapidly" before the summer recess.
He adds the 1922 committee believes they can have a proper discussion within the party within the time frame.
Brady says there needs to be a reasonable amount of time for party members and the public to get to know the final two candidates.
Sir Graham Brady says a second round of voting will take place on Thursday.
He also says there will be successive ballots until the final two candidates are reached.
Candidates standing in the Tory leadership race will need at least 20 supporters to get on the leadership vote ballot.
The chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MP’s Sir Graham Brady is announcing the timetable and rules of the contest.
He says the nominations will open and close on Tuesday.
MPs will conduct the first round of voting on Wednesday.
We know that there are currently 11 candidates vying for the top job.
Ione Wells
Political Correspondent, BBC News
Image source, PoolIn his speech to launch his leadership campaign, Sajid Javid was keen to stress that he's not here to 'play games' - a reference to some of the mud-slinging already under way in this contest, perhaps.
But he began his speech by saying he was speaking from the heart and didn't have a ready-made logo or video - which appeared to be a veiled jab at one of his opponents, Rishi Sunak.
Javid also reiterated how he was the first to resign from Boris Johnson's government, and argued he did not "say one thing and do another".
But he faced lots of questions about why he previously said the National Insurance rise, the health and social care levy, was 'right and fair' - only to now say he doesn't want it.
His defence largely centred on the 'collective responsibility' when one is in government, and said while he headed the Health department at the time, it was the Treasury who came up with the funding model.
Another veiled pop, arguably, at his rival.
Jennifer McKiernan
BBC London
The timetable for how the next leader of the Conservative Party will be selected has been decided today by the executive of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, led by Sir Graham Brady.
There is pressure to move quickly due to several factors, not least the cost of living crisis, and unease at Mr Johnson remaining in Downing Street expressed by senior figures including former PM Sir John Major.
Under the current rules, candidates need the backing of eight Tory MPs to enter the race.
Then a series of knockout rounds is held, where candidates need to win first 5% of the total votes available (currently 18 MPs), then 10% (currently 36 MPs) to stay in the running.
Further rounds eliminate the candidate with the least support each time, until two finalists are left.
The two most popular candidates with MPs are then put to the Conservative party membership to decide which one will take over the reins from Mr Johnson.
With 11 candidates joining the contest so far, an update to the rules is expected from Brady shortly in order to whittle down the field more quickly.
Image source, PASajid Javid MP launched his leadership campaign in a sweltering Cinnamon Club
Tory leadership hopefuls have been turning up the heat in their bids to replace Boris Johnson as the UK's prime minister, with the 11 candidates setting out contrasting visions.
Here's what's been happening:
The newly-elected 1922 Committee has been meeting to decide the timetable and rules of the leadership race - and its chair Sir Graham Brady is to outline those shortly.
Image source, ReutersWe're hearing from our politics team that Sir Graham Brady has just walked in to CCHQ - the Conservative Party's headquarters.
He's there to present the party board with board the rules his 1922 Committee have just agreed to oversee the leadership race.
These rules will need their approval.
After that we expect Brady to go to College Green and announce what the rules and the schedule will be.
Image source, ReutersSome more from Steve Baker's interview on BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
He says he is pushing for a "fresh beginning" for the party and also hit out at people playing "dirty" in other leadership campaigns.
"Suella's campaign will be squeeky clean and I am sure that is what she will want," the MP for Wycombe says of Braverman, who he's backing.
"There are some people in politics who don't play that way, and as far as that it is up to me, I will beat them, and I will beat them fair and square.
"Some people play things very dirty, I don't want them anywhere near power and public life. The public deserve it."
Image source, ReutersMP and Brexit-supporter Steve Baker has been out leading the campaign for Suella Braverman this afternoon.
Braverman, the attorney general, is one of 11 current candidates - and Mr Baker admits there is a real danger of the Conservative Party tearing itself apart as candidates compete for any advantage.
"We need to get extreme politically motivated individuals out of our lives," he says speaking on Radio 4's PM programme, about some supporters of some campaigns.
"In this country we used to know what tolerance meant, meant to agree to disagree.
"But now we have people who disagree and then they cancel one another. This is not an ingredient of a free society.
"None of us want to be waging a culture war when we have a cost of living crisis to deal with. Nonetheless it is a present factor in our society, a dangerous one, because tolerance is part of the essence of how we make progress."