His closest rival is Kemi Badenoch, who comes in second on 15 per cent, followed by Robert Jenrick on 13 per cent and Tom Tugendhat on 9 per cent. Mr Cleverly is also the preferred candidate among the wider public, with 11 per cent supporting him to become the next Conservative leader compared to 9 per cent for Ms Badenoch.

The Tories should never have promised to “stop the boats”, James Cleverly has said. The former home secretary told a fringe event at the Conservative conference: “I think the phrase ‘stop the boats’ was an error.

Cleverly’s strong speech to last week’s Tory conference in Birmingham has blown the fight to succeed Rishi Sunak wide open, as the party’s 121 MPs prepare to whittle down four candidates to a shortlist of two.