Race to be next PM LIVE: Tory war to replace Boris Johnson BEGINS

Race to be next Prime Minister LIVE: Tory ‘civil war’ to replace Boris Johnson BEGINS as Liz Truss flies back to UK and Tom Tugendhat throws his hat into the ring

Follow MailOnline’s live coverage for all the latest news and updates as the race to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister begins: 

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“The word caretaker can’t apply to Boris Johnson – he has never cared for anything in his life”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey says they want the M out as soon as possible.#KayBurley #borisresigns FC pic.twitter.com/TJvyyjpOAE

Angela Rayner has said that she and Keir Starmer will not appeal if they are fined by Durham police over their boozy lockdown curry.

Asked if she and the Labour leaderwill not appeal against the police’s conclusions, his deputy told BBC’s Today programme: ‘Well, yeah, we’ll accept the findings.

‘You know, it’s very clear that both myself and Keir believe that we believe in the rule of law.

‘We believe that if you’re a lawmaker, you can’t be a lawbreaker, and that we couldn’t lead the party under those conditions.

‘We’ve got a Prime Minister who spent the last couple of months trying to cling on to power that has devastated the British public and we’ve not been dealing with the issues that matter to them.’

Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss says she is ‘devastated’ at shooting of Shinzo Abe as Keir Starmer calls attack on Japan’s ex-PM a ‘truly dark day’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that she was ‘devastated’ at the shooting of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

She joined Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer in calling news of the attack a ‘truly dark day’. 

The Tory hopeful tweeted: ‘Devastated to hear about the attack on former Prime Minister Abe. We stand with our Japanese friends at this difficult time.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.’

The Labour leader added: ‘Our hearts are with the family of Shinzo Abe and the Japanese people. A truly dark day.’

Education Secretary James Cleverly insisted Boris Johnson ‘is resigning’ as Prime Minister, despite not having used the word in his resignation speech.

He told Sky News: ‘There’s no such thing as a caretaker prime minister. In our system, there is a prime minister.

‘He is resigning from his role as Prime Minister and leader of the the party once a successor has been appointed.’

Education Secretary James Cleverly has said stories about Boris Johnson’s Chequers wedding party is ‘media speculation’ and he has not had an invite.

He told Sky News: ‘I don’t know the details about that. I’ve seen some media speculation and unsurprisingly, that was not part of the discussion I had with him.’

Asked if he had received an invite, he said: ‘No.

‘So the so the point is, he is very, very clear, that we are here to serve the British people, he is also very clear that we do that until the new prime minister is in place, and that’s what he’s doing personally.’

It comes as Boris and Carrie Johnson are reportedly ploughing on with plans for a wedding bash at Chequers as he shifts to a caretaker role in his final days in office.

James Cleverly has ruled himself out from the Tory leadership race due to his personal circumstances, and did not throw his weight behind any of his colleagues tipped to be running.

The Education Secretary told Sky News: ‘No, I won’t be.

‘I put myself forward last time, I don’t regret that, I really enjoyed it. As you know, my wife has been going through cancer treatment and whilst that is progressing, well, it hasn’t concluded.

‘It’s not the right time for me.

‘And I feel comfortable that actually we have a range of candidates within the party that would make excellent prime ministers.

‘And before you ask the next obvious question, I haven’t decided who I’m going to support yet.’

Boris Johnson has said he is ‘utterly appalled’ at the shooting of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Japanese media reported the 67-year-old had gone into heart failure on Friday after the attack during a campaign speech.

The country’s national broadcaster NHK TV said Mr Abe was bleeding and holding his chest when he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital. 

Johnson tweeted: ‘Utterly appalled and saddened to hear about the despicable attack on Shinzo Abe. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.’

Good morning, and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the race to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister. 

The Tory ‘civil war’ to succeed Johnson has truly begun, as Tom Tugendhat throws his hat into the ring, Grant Shapps and Sajid Javid eye up potentially making a bid, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss flies back to Britain from an official trip to Indonesia.

So follow MailOnline’s live blog for all the latest news and updates – you won’t want to miss a thing. 

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