James Cleverly's bid to become the next Conservative Party leader received a huge boost as a new poll suggested he would beat frontrunner Robert Jenrick.
The former Home Secretary is now second among Conservative Party members, according to a poll Conservative Home.
But crucially, the grassroots Tory website asked who would win if each of the candidates made the final two.
And Mr Cleverly was projected to beat former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick for the first time.
Mr Jenrick is still the favorite with the bookmakers to replace Rishi Sunak.
But the new ballot by ConservativeHome revealed Mr Cleverly would beat his former Home Office colleague by 54 to 36 per cent, while he would beat Tom Tugendhat by 67 to 18 per cent.
But he would lose if Kemi Badenoch made it to the final two, it suggested.
Last week, the same poll showed that Mr. Jenrick led Mr. Cleverly by 51 percent to 37 percent.
Shadow housing secretary Kemi Badenoch is still the most popular among Tory party members, according to the poll by ConservativeHome.
And she would beat the other three candidates.
She would beat Mr. Cleverly by 48 to 42 percent, the polling suggests. Ms Badenoch would beat Robert Jenrick by 53 to 33 percent, while she would beat Tom Tugendhat by 62 to 28 percent.
Ms Badenoch was on Sunday endorsed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who described the shadow housing secretary as “strong and courageous” and commended her “commitment to conservative principles”.
He said: “She has a commitment to conservative principles, she's strong, she's courageous and she will be an inspiration for conservatives not just in the United Kingdom, but all across the world”, Mr DeSantis said.
“Our president Ronald Reagan once said that we need to stand for bold colors, not pale pastels.
“Kemi flies the flag of bold colors, just like we do in Florida, just like you will do again in the United Kingdom.”
Mr Cleverly's campaign on Sunday said more than 50 prospective parliamentary candidates were backing his bid to become leader.
His team added: “He knows how to get the campaigning machine battle-ready.
“He will inspire more people to get involved with the Conservative Party and get candidates elected at all levels”.