Steve Baker

Eight candidates remain in The Race to become The Next Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader.

The Field will be whittled down to a final two in a over The Next few days, before party members have The Final say.

Whoever wins The Contest when the result is announced on 5 September will immediately face demands from the SNP for an independence referendum to be held in October of next year.

Here is a what each of the candidates has had to say about indyref2.

The former Chancellor's resignation alongside Health Secretary Sajid Javid played a key role in the collapse of support for Boris Johnson within the government.

Mr Sunak is now one of the clear favourites to replace Mr Johnson, with his Ready for Rishi campaign being publicly backed by more Conservative MPs than any other candidate.

He has previously said that it was to hold another independence referendum under any circumstances, describing the UK as the " most enduring and successful union The World has seen".

He has also argued that people want politicians to, energy security and Economic Growth rather than The Constitution .

And he has pledged to bring the whole of the UK closer together rather than indulging in " political point-scoring" if he becomes PM.

In 2020, Mr Sunak denied claims published in the FT newspaper that he had once told a Conservative colleague that it would be in England's best financial interests to break away from the UK.

The Foreign Secretary has secured support from prominent right-wing Tory MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries .

Ms Truss lived in Paisley as a child, where she attended West Primary School and once played The Role of Margaret Thatcher in a class hustings ahead of the 1983 general election.

She that she got zero votes, adding: " I didn't even vote for myself. Even at that age we knew it was simply unpopular to be a Tory in The West of Scotland. "

But she has said that the Conservatives " wouldn't have the ideas, the leaders or The Legacy we have today" without Scots.

She also told Representing Border last month that the SNP had described The Last referendum in 2014 as " once in a generation" adding: " I don't think we're through that generation yet. "

The former Army Officer has never held a ministerial post, but his promise of a " fresh start" has been publicly backed by 19 MPs.

Writing in on Saturday, He Said that the Conservatives were the " only party voters can trust to unequivocally stand up for The Union and Scotland's role within it".

He Said Scotland was a " key part of the levelling-up agenda" and predicted that the country could power The Next Industrial Revolution just as it had The First one.

He later told the that the SNP " can't keep asking the same question hoping for a different answer" on independence.

When asked if The Union was a voluntary one, Mr Tugendhat said " of course" and that there were no rules stopping One Country from leaving.

Ms Badenoch resigned as the equalities minister on 6 July in protest at Boris Johnson 's handling of the sexual misconduct allegations against Conservative MP Chris Pincher.

She is on The Right of The Party and has won over MPs including Michael Gove with her " anti-woke" and small government platform.

Ms Badenoch told The House of Commons in May that the government had delivered for the whole of the UK by " securing vaccines for all four nations and agreeing the largest funding settlement since devolution".

She also questioned what the Scottish Government was doing to help people in Scotland " given that we have devolved so much policy".

The trade minister is an officer in the Royal Navy reserves and appeared on the reality TV show Splash in 2014.

She is believed to be popular among many grassroots party members and has secured The Public support of 24 MPs.

Writing in the Daily Mail earlier This Week , She Said she was firmly against indyref2 and predicted she could " break the yellow wall" by winning SNP seats for the Conservatives.

She Said : " In this leadership contest, you will not only hear me talk of winning power across our United Kingdom . You will also hear me talk of winning power in Scotland, as difficult as it will be to achieve.

" We must set our sights that high. We Are the only party that has ever shown the strength to stand up to the SNP.

" It will be a long road to get there but we must aspire to unite the pro-UK majority and form the Scottish Government . We must be a party that seeks power everywhere in our United Kingdom . "

The former health and Foreign Secretary finished second to Mr Johnson in The Last Conservative leadership contest in 2019, and resigned from the government when the result was announced.

Speaking on Sunday to the He Said that there should not be another independence referendum.

He also repeatedly stated during his 2019 campaign that he would not agree to indyref2 if he became PM.

Mr Zahawi was appointed as Chancellor by Mr Johnson on 5 July - before calling on him to Stand Down as Prime Minister less than 48 Hours later.

The former Kurdish refugee co-founded the YouGov Market Research firm and is said to be one of parliament's richest MPs.

He has previously said that the " most successful market is the UK internal market" and that it would be a " catastrophically poor choice for The People of Scotland to make" to exchange it for EU membership.

Mr Zahawi has also said it would be an " insult to The People of Scotland, and the rest of the UK" to continue asking the independence question " every time the SNP finds a grievance to play up".

The Attorney General is seen as being one of the rank outsiders among those remaining in The Race , although she has been backed by MPs including prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker.

In January, she called for the SNP to " respect The Will of The People " by accepting that voters had backed remaining in the UK in The Last referendum.

She has previously claimed that it would be a " betrayal of democracy" to ask the question again, and urged politicians to " think twice before they choose To Let people down in this way".

Source of news: bbc.com