Eight Tories so far have put themselves forward as Boris Johnson’s replacement as Prime Minister.

This comes just days after a mass resignation within the party forced him to announce his resignation.

Former health secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid have announced their separate bids, promising to slash corporation tax.

It comes after two serving Cabinet ministers, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, revealed their intention to run for the top job in the space of an hour.

Declaring their candidacies in The Telegraph, Hunt and Javid both said they would not only scrap the former chancellor’s plans to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April but reduce the rate to 15%.

READ MORE: Will there be a snap election as Boris Johnson prepares to resign?

Zahawi, Rishi Sunak’s successor, had said earlier this week that “everything is on the table” when questioned over the corporation tax rise.

Javid also said he would scrap the Government’s controversial national insurance hike, bring forward the planned 1p income tax cut to next year, and introduce a further “significant” temporary reduction on fuel duty.

The pair laid out their economic plans in separate interviews with the newspaper.

In addition to cutting corporation tax, Mr Hunt said he would remove business rates for five years for the communities most in need.

Most of those areas are in the so-called “Red Wall” of traditional Labour heartlands, the newspaper said, with a quarter of locations in England and Wales in line for the tax break.

Scotland and Northern Ireland would get money to match the policy.

Hunt said: “What matters is wealth creation, which means that people don’t feel that they need to leave a Bolton or a Bolsover because they can get better jobs in Manchester or London. They can actually stay there.

“That means helping them have opportunities at home that makes talented people want to stay, not go.”

Earlier, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that after “careful consideration” and discussion with colleagues and family, he would not stand to be party leader and the next prime minister.

List of everyone running for Prime Minister

In addition to Hunt, Javid, Zahawi, Shapps and Sunak, Attorney General Suella Braverman, ex-minister Kemi Badenoch and senior Tory Tom Tugendhat have launched their own bids. Trade minister Penny Mordaunt also launched her campaign this morning.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is also widely expected to stand, with the Mail on Sunday reporting she will seek to advocate “classic Conservative principles” and could declare her candidature as soon as Monday.

When will Boris Johnson stand down?

It was reported on Saturday that Johnson intends to stand down as Prime Minister on Monday, in order to run for Tory leader again.

But a spokesperson for Johnson said that this was completely untrue.

Tory MP Mark Francois has said he believes at least 12 people will put their names forward.

He told GB News: “It looks like this is going to be the Grand National but without the fences, so we are probably heading for at least a dozen candidates at the moment.”

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