The Tory leadership race heats up this week as Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt go head-to-head in a TV debate on Tuesday shown on ITV. The Conservative Party rivals will also outline their proposals on Brexit and domestic politics when they are quizzed by no-nonsense journalist Andrew Neil. The Andrew Neil Interviews: Jeremy Hunt & Boris Johnson shown on Friday, July 12 at 7pm featuring two 30-minute interviews each Prime Ministerial hopeful. The debates have proven controversial as many of the Tory Party members may have voted by the time they happen.

When does voting take place?

Voting opened on July 6 for the approximately 160,000 members eligible to elect the country’s next Prime Minister.

Members will receive their postal ballots between July 6 and July 8.

The vote deadline is July 22 and the results are likely to be announced the next day.

This means Theresa May could stand down as Prime Minister as soon as July 23 with her successor taking control immediately.

The latest odds still favour Boris Johnson in reaching Downing Street.

Ladbrokes slashed his odds to record lows of 1/20 within the last 24 hours.

Jeremy Hunt is far behind at just 12/1.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “The odds speak for themselves, and it’s surely now just a case of when, not if, Boris replaces May.”

Jeremy Hunt earlier urged Tory voters to back to keep Jeremy Corbyn from becoming Prime Minister, saying he was “not fit for high office” because he believes “Britain is a face for evil in the world”.

In a pitch to the Young Conservatives conference in Nottingham, Mr Hunt said: “Between 2015 and 2017, Labour’s lead among 18-to-24-year-olds doubled and our support halved to just 13 percent.

“But we cannot be the party of aspiration if we can’t attract the support of the most aspirational people in our society – and attract it we will, because that is what I am going to change as prime minister.”

He also pledged to cut tuition fee interest rates, introduce a new Right To Own scheme to help people get on the housing ladder, and tackle climate change and pollution with plans including 2.5 million electric car charging points.

Not to be outdone, Mr Johnson reiterated his commitment to take the UK out of the EU with or without a deal.

In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Johnson was asked if was bluffing about his plans and replied: “No … honestly. Come on. We’ve got to show a but more gumption about this.”

He added: “We were pretty much ready on March 29. And we will be ready by October 31.”

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