The Conservative leadership contest should be cut short and one of the candidates given a coronation, a senior party figure has said.

Anna Soubury, the business minister, said a period of uncertainty would be bad for the party and country at a time of instability.

“It would be best if the candidates among themselves could just back one person and then we can get on with it,” she told LBC radio.

May launches leadership bid

“This uncertainty — for this to drag on till September — is not great for our country.”

The Times newspaper cites an anonymous Conservative source as saying there will be “strong pressure” for MPs to start conceding if favourite Theresa May opens up an overwhelming lead in the race.

Ms May, the Home Secretary, backed the Remain campaign, and is now in poll position in the contest after Boris Johnson and George Osborne declined to stand.

Bookies make her clear favourite, at odds of around 1/2, with Andrea Leadsom now second favourite at 9/4 - and Michael Gove a distant 14/1.

She is expected to do well in the first round of voting amongst MPs, which is due on Tuesday. There will then be subsequent rounds of voting until only two candidates remain, at which point the result will be put to the membership.

However Ms May has publicly dismissed the suggestion of cutting short the contest, saying it was “important to have an open contest”.

Business minister Anna Soubury made the call for the contest to be cut short (PA images) (PA)

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph Ms Leadsom, another candidate, said the new PM should be a Leave supporter – effectively ruling out Ms May.

She argued that it would be “very difficult” for someone who backed Remain to lead the Tory party – which only has a slim majority in Parliament four years out from a scheduled election.

The favourites in the Tory leadership race Show all 5 1 /5 The favourites in the Tory leadership race The favourites in the Tory leadership race Theresa May The longest-serving Home Secretary in 100 years took a back seat in the referendum campaign. While backing Remain, she did not hit the campaign trail and delivered only a handful of speeches and interviews, and was critical of many aspects of the EU, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. Hedging her bets allows her to now emerge as a ‘unity’ candidate, and she is said to have been building up her back-room staff in preparation for a leadership bid. She has the significant advantage of having served in one of the great offices of state, in a steady and competent manner that has won her many admirers within party and the civil service. At a time of great instability, it may be that she is viewed as steady hand on the tiller. Mrs May does however, lack the ‘star quality’ of a Boris Johnson and party members may doubt her ability to connect with ordinary voters PA The favourites in the Tory leadership race Michael Gove The Justice Secretary may be able to set himself up as ‘the thinking Tory’s Brexit candidate’. Made an enormous political and personal decision to back Leave, taking on his old friend David Cameron. He performed well during the TV debates, and will be an admired figure among Eurosceptic Conservatives. Along with Johnson, he will be hindered by the fact that he led a very divisive campaign, characterised by ‘blue-on-blue’ action. MPs may also judge that he lacks Boris Johnson’s wider appeal with the electorate. Possibly more likely that he will settle for being his new bosom buddy Boris’s Chancellor Getty The favourites in the Tory leadership race Stephen Crabb Highly-rated Work and Pensions Secretary, raised on a council estate, so could reach out to non-traditional working class Tory voters Getty Images The favourites in the Tory leadership race Andrea Leadsom Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change is one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign, seen to have performed well in TV debates Rex Features The favourites in the Tory leadership race Liam Fox British Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, as sources said he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party AFP/Getty

The Conservative membership is highly Eurosceptic and even if Ms May has a huge lead among Tory MPs at the last hurdle it is possible they could back a eurosceptic candidate if one makes it to the final two.

Meanwhile former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has backed Ms Leadsom, arguing that she is “the right person to lead” Brexit negotiations.

“I believe that Andrea's strong family background, business experience, compassion, commitment to social justice and dedication will make her a great prime minister for the UK,” he said.

The other candidates to replace David Cameron as party leader are Stephen Crabb, Mr Gove and Liam Fox.

The election was called after Mr Cameron stepped down, saying it was not right for him to lead Brexit negotiations after having strongly backed Remain.