Members of a Tory pressure group set up by Liz Truss want Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick installed as party leader - but say they have no confidence in MPs to deliver.
The head of the Popular Conservatism faction - launched earlier this year by the disaster 49-day PM - took a brutal swipe at the "disconnect" between MPs and Tory members. It comes as six candidates slug it out to suceed Rishi Sunak following the General Election mauling.
Unsurprisingly the group, which has criticised the previous Government for not being hard-line enough, prefers the most right-wing options. Robert Jenrick - who earlier this week vowed to resurrect the Rwanda project in spite of its eye-watering cost - was the preferred choice of 28.4% supporters in a survey.
That puts him narrowly above former Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, on 28.2%. Dame Priti Patel, the former Home Secretary who launched the Rwanda project way back in 2022, was on 17.4%. One in six Popular Conservatives supporters have yet to make up their mind.
But over three quarters (76%) of respondents said they have little or no confidence that Tories will pick the right contenders to go head-to-head. Next month Tory MPs will narrow the six candidates down to four ahead of the party conference in Birmingham. MPs will then select a final two, with members - who picked Ms Truss over Rishi Sunak last time around - then selecting the winner in November.
Popular Conservatism director Mark Littlewood said: “The next leader will need to address the disconnect between the grassroots and the Parliamentary party - there is very little confidence amongst the membership that the MPs will select the best two candidates for the final ballot. Immigration is overwhelmingly the main policy concern of the party members we surveyed and it’s clear that the candidates will need a compelling policy in this area in order to win over the party faithful.
“It’s also clear that the campaign has yet to really ignite. Robert Jenrick is seen, by some margin, to have run the best campaign so far but there’s obviously still a long way to go.”
The three remaining candidates - Mel Stride, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly - all polled under 5% of Tory members surveyed by the Popular Conservatism group.
They think immigration is the top priority for the winner (54.7%) followed by the economy (23.9%). Health, education, law and order and the environment each got less than 7%.
Candidates are nervously waiting to see if Ms Truss decides to back one of them. Earlier this month a poll by Ipsos found 65% of voters think a contender's chances of winning would be hampered if she backs them.
The same poll found three in five don't care who becomes the next Tory leader.