But Prof Sir John Curtice, the country’s foremost polling guru has warned that neither Mr Jenrick nor Mrs Badenoch is likely to reverse the Tories’ struggling fortunes. Writing in The Independent, he questioned whether either had “an adequate understanding of why their party suffered its worst-ever electoral result in July”.

The two remaining candidates in Conservative leadership race - after centrist James Cleverly was ejected by MPs - are both young and seen as being on the right of the party. But there are plenty of points of difference for Tory members - who begin voting soon - to chew over.

Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick defended changing his stance on Brexit, when asked about a letter he is said to have signed describing it as a “dystopia”. Mr Jenrick voted to remain in the EU in the Brexit referendum but later backed leaving the bloc.