Rishi Sunak is, he acknowledges, "playing catch-up" to Liz Truss this weekend, as he embarks a whistlestop tour of southern Conservative associations to deliver his pitch as the "honest" and "responsible" successor to Boris Johnson.

The two candidates have been vying for the title of underdog, with Mr Sunak alluding to the fallout over his wife's tax status when he points out that: "It wasn't that long ago, the commentary was that I wouldn't even have been a part of this contest."

Mr Sunak is sitting in the living room of the chairman of the Chesham and Amersham Conservative Association, as the local party faithful gather on the lawn outside for the first of six stump speeches delivered by the former chancellor on Saturday

This weekend, allies claimed that his poor showing in recent polls showed he was the victim of "latent racism" from members. But Mr Sunak, who has been Conservative MP for Richmond, north Yorkshire, since 2015, insisted this is not the case.

"I absolutely don't think that's a factor in anyone's decision," he said. "I just don't think that's right.

"I was selected as a Member of Parliament in Richmond… Our members rightly put merit above everything else. I'm sure when they are considering this question, they are just figuring out who is the best person to be prime minister... Gender, ethnicity and everything else will have nothing to do with it."

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