So cautious and moderate was former immigration minister Robert Jenrick when he entered the Commons that he was nicknamed “Robert Generic”.

       Mr Jenrick ticked every box of the Conservative cliche. A history graduate from Cambridge and a qualified solicitor, he joined parliament as MP for Newark in 2014. He voted to remain in the EU and backed Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times. He served as a minister in multiple departments under every prime minister since 2017. It is no surprise that he has long been considered a moderate within the party.

       As a long-standing friend of Rishi Sunak, Mr Jenrick seemed like the obvious choice to keep a watchful eye over the incalculable Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

       Mr Sunak may have hoped that teddy bear-like Mr Jenrick would keep the wild bear Ms Braverman under control – instead, after thirteen months, he joined her. Now he is among favourites to succeed Mr Sunak if the Tories lose - or if the prime minister is ousted before the election, however unlikely that seems.

       It is with great stealth that Mr Jenrick has crept up the list of possible leadership contenders. Despite serving in multiple, high-profile departments, such as the treasury, health, home office and housing, the former minister’s name never entered conversations about leadership until recently. But those who have worked with him are complimentary, describing him as “deeply cerebral”, a skilled communicator, and say his political vision extends far beyond just immigration.

       Housing is of high priority to Mr Jenrick. Having brought forward proposed planning reforms as housing minister and issued a plea to his successor, Michael Gove, not to water down house-building commitments, he breaks with some in the party who have opposed housing targets. Mr Jenrick has warned that the party will lose young voters if they don’t make good on their housing pledges. With only 10 per cent of those under-50 predicted to vote Tory at the next election, conservative strategiests say a pro-house building stance could be the only way to avoid wipe-out.

       But despite his seemingly centrist credentials, allies insist he has always been of the right. One observer says that it is the Conservative party that has moved further left, citing David Cameron’s 2010 manifesto commitment to reduce net migration to “tens of thousands a year”, considerably less than the government’s current net migration figures of 672,000 in 2023.

       Though often seen as the more moderate force in the Home Office, Mr Jenrick seized headlines by ordering murals of Mickey Mouse and Baloo from the Jungle Book to be scrubbed from immigration detention centre because they were too welcoming. Both Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick have a long-standing friendship, having studied together at Cambridge University and worked closely in the Home Office, and they have remained aligned on amendments to Mr Sunak’s Rwanda legislation.

       Whispers in Westminster are that Mr Jenrick’s weight-loss and new haircut is a clear indication of ambition. He has not said he would run for the leadership - but has not ruled it out either. Those close to him say they have no knowledge of his future ambitions, but are keen to sing his praises.

       There is no denying he suddenly looks - and sounds - hungry, spearheading rebel amendments against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda bill, and holding the pen on Telegraph op-eds that are openly critical of the government’s position. “In almost everyone’s eyes he’s grown in stature,” says senior Conservative MP and close friend Sir John Hayes.

       But his record is not entirely faultless. Back in 2020, he was involved in a cronyism scandal, when he overruled a planning decision to benefit newspaper magnate Richard Desmond, who then donated ￡12,000 to the party.

       As housing minister, he was accused by some of his colleagues of “concreting over” their constituencies, in his push to build more rural homes.

       Mr Jenrick is also married to Michal Berkner, a wealthy lawyer. If the Conservatives wanted to chose a leader that represented a break from the last few decades, chosing another Oxbridge attendee with millions in the bank would not be wise.

       Few commentators doubt that the Tories are heading for defeat at the coming election. They say the party will inevitably lurch to the right, especially as Nigel Farage embarks on a media resurgence and Reform UK nibble away at Conservative seats. A recent YouGov poll predicts the party could recieve as much as 12 per cent of the vote share – putting a considerable dint in the Conservative support base.

       But there are those who worry that Farage’s brand of brash populism could frighten away voters. Some in the party still talk highly of Ms Braverman’s prospects, but admit her communication may not be to everyone’s taste. Mr Jenrick’s delivery feels more palatable. “He excudes reasonableness,” one Tory MP muses.

       How much more safe and sensible to pick someone like Mr Jenrick who holds similar views but seems so less scary. After all, who can be frightened by a teddy bear in a suit?