THE Tory leadership contest unofficially kicked off today as Boris Johnson fired the starting gun after being forced to resign as Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson will remain as PM until a successor is in place, expected to be by the time of the Tory Party conference in October.

Some Tories have already made their ambitions to replace him clear.

Former minister Steve Baker, who helped former PM Theresa May fall from office, confirmed today that he is seriously considering putting himself forward for the top job.

But his odds on the books are at 40-to-one.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss made her intentions clear with a series of high-profile interventions and photo opportunities in which she appeared to be channelling former PM Margaret Thatcher.

According to BetFair Exchange, the South West Norfolk MP is one of the higher ranking candidates with odds currently standing at eight-to-one.

And former health secretary Sajid Javid, whose resignation alongside former chancellor Rishi Sunak triggered the collapse of Mr Johnson’s premiership, is seriously considering running.

His odds are just behind Ms Truss’s at nine-to-one.

Meanwhile, billionaire Mr Sunak is currently at the highest odds in the books at six-to-one.

His low-tax, Thatcherite policies are popular among the Conservative membership.

Other expected candidates include new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who — according to the Telegraph — has been plotting a leadership bid for months with the help of political strategists.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who previously said he was not interested in the position, former minister Penny Mordaunt, who was a supporter of Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 leadership election, and Michael Gove, fresh from his sacking as levelling up secretary, are others with high odds.