New British PM by 2 September

A new British prime minister and Conservative Party leader should be in place by 2 September, the party’s 1922 Committee of senior backbench MPs has recommended.

It said nominations should open on Wednesday and close at noon on Thursday, at an emergency meeting in Westminster.

Chairman of the executive body, MP Graham Brady, said: “I think the view of the party is that both we as Conservatives and the country more generally, really want certainty, we would like some resolution, and we think it would be a good thing to conclude this process as soon as we practicably can.

“That ought to mean that we would have a new prime minister before the House of Commons returns for its September sitting.”

Asked if a general election should follow suit, Brady said the government should “get on with” and seek to negotiate as good an outcome of Brexit as possible before “the people are asked to approve or reject that in a general election”.

The announcement of a possible timetable came as the government started putting together a plan for “Brexit consultations” at a Cabinet meeting chaired by outgoing prime minister David Cameron.

It was the first time Cameron came face-to-face with some of the ministers – including his old friend Michael Gove – who engineered the defeat that has forced him to resign.

The marathon one-and-a-half hour Cabinet meeting took place after months of toxic infighting and campaigning over the issue which some say has left the Conservative Party more divided than ever.

A Downing Street source said the architecture for negotiations to begin with the European Union had been put in place and individual departments had been told to report to Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin.

Ministers agreed to the creation of a new civil service unit that will have the complex task of negotiating the country’s departure from the EU, the PM’s spokeswoman said afterwards.

She said there would be a sensible approach to Brexit and EU issues – and that the UK would remain a member of the bloc, until it left.

As the meeting drew to a close, there was reportedly banging on the table and tributes to Cameron.

Also sitting at the table were those being touted to replace him as Tory leader.

Home Secretary Theresa May is emerging as an alternative to former London mayor Boris Johnson, who remains the favourite to succeed Cameron.