The Tories aren't just disagreeing over who their next leader is - but when and how they're elected

The few remaining Conservative MPs are arguing about what form a leadership contest should take, never mind who should be leader.

Each leadership contender has their own agenda about how long the contest should last, who should vote and in what form the vote should take place.

Some want to go long and use October’s party conference as a hustings event for members, with a leader installed by the end of the year. Others want a much shorter contest with a new leader in place by the Autumn.

They fear Labour will be free to use an Autumn statement, largely unchallenged, to blame the Conservative Party for the dire economic picture.

They also worry disgruntled Tory councilors will be persuaded to defect to Reform UK the longer the Conservative party is in a state of paralysis.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told friends he’d rather his time as interim leader doesn’t drag on.

If the leadership contest to replace him goes beyond September, he’d like a caretaker leader to take the reins.

Over the weekend, Sunak appointed Stuart Andrew, the Daventry MP and former sports minister, to be the shadow chief whip. In effect, he is running the party in Sunak's absence.

The Conservative parliamentary party will meet for the first time on Tuesday still licking its wounds.

On Monday, Tory MPs who had lost their seats were in parliament to clear out their offices and say goodbye to former colleagues.

In the same spaces, newly elected Labour MPs were giddy with excitement at being back in government after 14 years.

Politics is a brutal game.

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