Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said Tory leadership candidates had not yet identified how to see off the threat posed to the Conservative Party by Reform UK. 

The former business secretary said the six contenders to replace Rishi Sunak had successfully identified many of the mistakes the Tories made in recent years. 

But he said they now must set out the “cure” for winning back voters who no longer trust the Conservatives and a plan for dealing with a party which has “pinched our finest clothes”. 

He told GB News: “We clearly have some of the six most brilliant, genius people in the world running for the leadership who have said these amazingly true and thoughtful things. 

“The candidates have been good at identifying the problem. But what is the cure when the party is untrusted and Reform has pinched our finest clothes?”

Tory MPs will vote for the first time in the contest this afternoon as they whittle the field down from six to five. 

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