Removal vans have been pictured outside No 10 as Boris Johnson prepares to depart as prime minister.

Just a few hours remain until voting closes in the race to succeed Mr Johnson as Conservative leader.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former chancellor Rishi Sunak have spent the past six weeks battling to seize control of Number 10, with the winner due to be unveiled on Monday, 5 September.

However, Mr Johnson will officially remain in post until his replacement formally takes office on Tuesday, after they have been officially appointed by the Queen.

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For the first time ever in her reign, the Queen will receive the new PM at her Scottish residence Balmoral, in Aberdeenshire, due to ongoing health concerns, it was announced earlier this week.

Mr Johnson announced his resignation on 7 July after less than three years in the job, telling the British public how “no one is remotely indispensable” as he revealed his sadness over leaving what he described as “the best job in the world”.

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He has since spent time at the prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers, where he and wife Carrie Johnson hosted a farewell party in July.

Mr Johnson was at the Buckinghamshire property, which has an indoor swimming pool and hundreds of acres of grounds, at the time an emergency COBRA meeting was held on the heatwave national emergency, which saw temperatures soar past 40C.

Mr Johnson and his current chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, were both on holiday when the Bank of England hiked interest rates and warned of the longest recession since the financial crisis, at the beginning of August.

Less than a fortnight later, he was pictured enjoying his second holiday of the summer, jetting to Greece as millions of people at home face a stark choice between heating and eating.

When quizzed about why the soon-to-be-ex prime minister could not wait until his successor was appointed before going abroad, his spokesperson said he could not get into the details – but insisted “government activity continues”.

Removal vans were also earlier spotted outside Number 10 on 15 August, as the PM prepared to depart.

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