The race to succeed Boris Johnson has really begun with eight candidates now fighting to become the next Tory Party leader and prime minister.
The contest has already started very well and speaking to BBC Breakfast, Lucy Fisher of Times Radio said she was surprised at how “vicious” the leadership contest has already become.
“Everything is becoming very nasty very quickly,” he said, adding that candidates are starting to look at the ministerial records of others and attack them.
“There is even a suggestion that some campaign teams are delivering digital dossiers of outrageous allegations about their rivals to Labor to try to defame them,” he said.
All this is due to the acceleration of the contest, with George Parker, political editor of the Financial Times, telling the same program that the schedule is very tight.
He expects a “very brutal campaign” with candidates already trying to find weaknesses in their opponents.
“I thought one of the most significant things he said in this campaign was Mark Spencer, who is a former head of government, who said there were a number of candidates who have skeletons in their closets,” he said.
“I think some candidates will look over their shoulders.”