Senior MPs say that if Andrea Leadsom had not dropped out of the Tory leadership race, it would have dragged on for months when the country needed stability

Tory grassroots members face being stripped of their right to choose a new leader when the party is in power under plans to be considered by Conservative officials.

Senior MPs, including the Tory chairman of the Treasury select committee, have called on the party to review its rules that allow members the final say in choosing who should lead the party when it is in government.

Some have warned that this summer’s leadership election could have resulted in the party electing a “Jeremy Corbyn of the right” who did not command the support of the parliamentary party.

Others are concerned that the two-month election process that would have taken place if Andrea Leadsom had not pulled out of the race to succeed David Cameron would