Richard Norman had got up early to make sure of his car parking spot and was first in the queue for the Exeter Conservative leadership hustings, the latest round in the battle between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt for the hearts, minds and votes of the party faithful.

Resplendent in a Royal British Legion jacket, Norman, 75, took his place at the Sandy Park conference centre neutral but thinking Johnson was probably his man. He left feeling differently.

“I’m going to support Jeremy Hunt,” said Norman, who is from east Devon. “He’s a much more thoughtful guy and I believe that will be better for the country. I’m glad I came.”

At the other end of the age scale, Hunt also managed to woo 17-year-old students Alex Hall and Alecia Mason, from Torbay. “I was leaning towards Boris at the start,” said Hall. “But I was taking notes and found myself writing less when it was Jeremy Hunt’s turn because I was fixated on what he was saying. Boris has the personality but Hunt seems more about getting on with the job.”

Mason agreed. “I don’t think Johnson is willing to change,” she said. “It’s clear Jeremy will sculpt his views and compromise.”

It was striking how many people entering the conference centre next to Exeter Chiefs’ rugby pitch on Friday were wearing badges supporting both candidates.

Jo McCready, a 48-year-old IT worker from Bristol, was also undecided on the way in. As she left she said: “I think I’m leaning towards Jeremy. He seems more grounded; he does have a Brexit plan – bringing factions of the Conservatives together and the DUP. You don’t hear that from Boris, I don’t know what Boris’s plan is. Jeremy has fact and detail.”

The men did not go head-to-head but addressed the room and took questions separately. Johnson went first and reminded people that he had been raised on a Devon farm. Revelations were few and when asked to tell the audience something they didn’t know about him, Johnson said he weighed 15 and a half stone. Questioned over what failings he had learned from when a minister, he said he had been mistaken to think he could forge better relations with Russia.

One member asked if he was too “frit” to take on Hunt in more television debates. He said two was “more than enough”. He would not commit to including Hunt in a future cabinet if he won.

Hunt, when his turn came, told the audience he had lived in Devon for two years when his naval officer father was posted there but accepted he was a “grockle” - local slang for holidaymakers and other incomers.

Asked whether character mattered – an invitation to criticise Johnson’s – he replied: “Of course character matters,” but he said private life should not be part of that.

Hunt said there should be further head-to-head debates before Tory party members receive their ballot papers this time next week. Hunt said many would vote by return – that was what Tories did – before the next TV head-to-head. On which failing he had learned from, he cited the junior doctors’ strike when he was health secretary. Unlike Johnson, Hunt said he would love to have his opponent in his cabinet, and he gave a strong hint that if he lost he would be keen to remain foreign secretary.

The standing ovation at the end of Hunt’s half of the hustings was slightly larger than Johnson’s – though that might have been because he went second and people were anxious to stretch their legs.

Hunt clearly made new friends in Exeter, and in Bournemouth the night before, but the Johnson loyalists were still confident.

Gavin Donovan, who lives in a village just outside Exeter and works in property, said his mind had not been changed. “I thought Boris was particularly great – energetic and fired up and ready to take on the mantle. There are no reservations about his character for me. I love his positivity.”