Conservative leadership contenders have called the lacklustre handling of the contest disgraceful after it emerged they may only get a few minutes each to address the party’s conference.
The contest, which was expected to be a battle for the soul of the party, had been reduced to leadership contenders being given just 10 minutes on the stage, insiders said.
Rishi Sunak, the outgoing Tory leader, was expected to “show his face” only on the Sunday of the conference.
Some leadership hopefuls were concerned that the proposal for a “beauty contest” of the final four candidates to address members had been curtailed.
Instead of being able to set out their offer to party members – and the wider public, given that the speeches are likely to be broadcast widely – insiders said the MPs could get limited time on stage.
This would restrict voters’ chance to see what the candidates were really proposing and what their visions were for the country.
Tory officials insisted the agenda for the party conference had yet to be confirmed, however some leadership camps have said such a move would be disgraceful, given a party leader is required to regularly deliver speeches to a range of audiences for at least an hour.
One Tory insider said: “The candidate for the job should be required to deliver a proper speech. Setting the rules by the lowest common denominator is a path towards the wilderness.”
Allies of Robert Jenrick praised his ability to deliver a speech without notes for more than 30 minutes, as showcased at the launch of his campaign.
Conservative MPs have become exasperated by the length of the leadership contest, which runs until 2 November. This means Sunak, who led the Tories to a disastrous election defeat in July, will represent the party when the Labour government delivers its first budget of this parliament.
Tom Tugendhat’s campaign is understood to be among a number of camps to have argued for a shorter contest, in the hope of allowing the Conservatives to make a mark when responding to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
On Tuesday, Conservative MPs will eliminate another candidate from the contest, narrowing the number of contenders to four. James Cleverly’s allies told the Observer his “likability factor” will give him a serious chance of reaching the final run to replace Sunak.
A poll by Savanta revealed that voters thought Cleverly and Tugendhat were the candidates most likely to make a decent prime minister, despite them both trailing behind the personal ratings of the prime minister, Keir Starmer.
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Jenrick’s campaign has been accused by a rival campaign of lending votes to other candidates in the most recent round of voting.
Priti Patel was eliminated from the contest last week, coming last with 14 votes despite being the best-known candidate outside Westminster. Jenrick came out on top with the support of 28 MPs, followed by Kemi Badenoch with 22, Cleverly, 21, Tugendhat, 17, and Mel Stride, 16.
One campaign said Jenrick’s campaign “definitely” lent votes to rival campaigns last week. “There’s no way Mel would have beaten Priti otherwise.”
There were also reports over the weekend that Team Jenrick “lent” votes to Cleverly to boost his numbers as a rival to Badenoch.
Sources close to Badenoch suggested the same move could boost Cleverly’s vote to push her out of the final two.
Team Jenrick said the accusations were nonsense, insisting it reflected “the panic of a rival campaign going down the pan”.
