A crisp five days in the race for the Tory leadership, writes the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

Jenrick has impressed many Conservatives with a well-organized campaign (I heard you cry, he certainly didn’t plan it before the election), and it is agreed that he has outperformed the others in this regard.

Yet one colleague describes him as an “affable, boring Midlands bank manager”, while another jokes: “If the country had to draw a Tory they would draw him, that’s a problem for our stereotype.”

Meanwhile, a former cabinet minister says: “You can see the appeal of Kemi” – and another insists that “she has stage presence”. Badenoch has attracted some supporters with unusual fervor – one donor told me she had gained “some evangelical followers” but ran a “subpar campaign”.

And another of her former government colleagues says: “She could start a fight in an empty room” – Plain language is one thing, but politics is not just an attack game.

Then what about Cleverly? According to a senior source, the former interior minister and ex-foreign minister has “the best chance of doing what needs to be done to unite right and left.” For many he is considered a reliable media artist and a “safe contact person”.

Still others sitting next to him at the Cabinet table said, “He’s a bit empty,” not knowing what he would really offer for the job. Another’s mockery is simply: “Criticism of Cleverly always focuses on whether he really is that clever.”

Then there is virtuehat – “Now or later he is the best man you can have, we can only win from the middle,” says another former minister. The source points to polls that suggest he would have broader appeal.

But even those who sympathize with his cause fear he will not impress in the election campaign. One of his supporters says: “He hasn’t put much energy into the campaign…he’s the underdog and unless he achieves a spectacular success and turns out the lights at the conference, he won’t make it.”