Neither Kemi Badenoch nor Robert Jenrick can reverse Tory fortunes following their historic election defeat, Britain’s foremost polling guru has predicted.

Professor Sir John Curtice suggested the final two Conservative leadership candidates would not be able to win over the public or unite the Right after millions abandoned the Tories for Reform UK.

In an article for The Independent, Sir John said: “In short, despite their ideological stance, neither Mrs Badenoch nor Mr Jenrick is necessarily well set to heal the electoral divide on the right.”

The election expert argued that neither Mrs Badenoch nor Mr Jenrick had “an adequate understanding of why their party suffered its worst ever electoral result in July”.

Sir John continued: “Still, as largely unknown quantities, perhaps either Mrs Badenoch or Mr Jenrick will prove able to surprise us – though in order to do so, they are both certainly going to have to reveal a wider range of political talents than they have so far.”