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”.

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are facing each other in the Tory leadership contest after the surprise knock-out of James Cleverly

Britain’s opposition Conservative Party will choose either Robert Jenrick or Kemi Badenoch to be its next leader