No such disdain when James Cleverly spoke about 'being a mixed-race kid from south-east London', or when Kemi Badenoch spoke about lying awake at night crime-ridden Lagos. But it seems Mr Jenrick has his work cut out when it comes to getting people to take his back story, of a childhood in the West Midlands seriously.

Tory leadership frontrunners Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch are scoring “own goals” hitting their campaigns to succeed Rishi Sunak, according to a senior parliamentarian. Leading Conservative pollster Lord Hayward stressed their campaigns were “stuttering” at the party’s annual rally in Birmingham which was leaving the leadership contest wide open with James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat able to build momentum.

Tory leadership candidates pitch to members in final conference speeches. Conservative leadership candidates reflected on their general election defeat in their final speeches at the party's conference.