Tory leadership in turmoil as new polling shows Keir Starmer TROUNCING all five hopefuls

However, the PM crushed both candidates in the poll, receiving over double of the public's support compared to either of his two potential opponents.

Despite the results, ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick and former Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch continue to lead the race to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader.

The contest comes at a time of turmoil for the Tories after the party was decimated in July's general election, earning the fewest seats in their electoral history.

Given the circumstances, some may wonder whether a leadership contest of cabinet ministers from the previous government is the right direction for the party.

“Any leader has got to capture the aspirations of the people,” political commentator Piers Pottinger told GB News last week: “None of these candidates, in my view, have got their finger on the pulse and are going to say the right sort of thing.”

On the future of the party, Pottinger said: "The person who is cleverest at recognising the aspirations is actually Nigel Farage.

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"And the more you see these candidates, the more you think what a difference it would be if Nigel was running the Conservative Party."

He continued: "If you look at the main planks of the Reform Party, their main policies, which they have mentioned all the way through the election and before it, they're all old Conservative policies, and they are the lynchpins of what people want to vote for in the Conservatives.

"I'm convinced of that, and why we sadly don't have Nigel running the Conservative Party, I don't know. It would be certainly the most effective thing. So sorry, Mr. Tugendhat. We want Nigel!"

And Pottinger’s words are not without public support; a survey of 2000 adults, conducted for the Independent earlier this year, found that 19 per cent of participants thought that Nigel Farage should take over as leader of the Tories.

Furthermore, the same survey saw the two leading Tory leadership candidates, Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, taking only five per cent and one per cent of public backing respectively.

Whether Farage would consider running for the position of leader of the Conservative Party remains unknown, however, with no Tory candidates gathering significant public backing, he appears the most prominent voice of opposition against Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour.