Leading Tories who want Mrs May’s top job following her departure on June 7 will be forced to perform to avoid another “Maybot” scenario. Rounds of public grillings will take place, including one possible televised appearance, The Sun reports, which will test the abilities of frontrunners such as Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt, Andrea Leadsom and Matt Hancock. The request has come from grassroots Tories from the party’s headquarters who have demanded final candidates do two events in front of them in regions across the UK.

Andrew Sharpe, chairman of the National Conservative Convention – the party’s voluntary wing – said: “It’s important the membership all get a chance to hear from the candidates themselves wherever they are, in whatever geographical region.

“The membership would be extremely unimpressed if the process was truncated.”

Mr Sharpe added non-party members are set to be allowed to attend debates – a first for the Conservatives.

Mrs May did not attend some TV debates during the snap General Election she triggered in 2017, which ended badly for the Tories.

The Conservatives lost so many seats up against Labour that they had to get the Northern Irish DUP to prop the government up.

Amber Rudd stepped in for her, but the appearances Mrs May did make saw the public call her ‘Maybot’ for her repetitive saying such as “Brexit means Brexit” and “strong and stable”, in reference to the party’s mantra.

On Friday, Mrs May gave an impassioned speech outside No10 that saw her break down in tears before announcing June 7 will be her last day as Conservative Party leader – triggering a race for the top job in Number 10.

Mrs May insisted she had “done my best” to deliver a Brexit deal as she was watched by husband Philip and her closest aides.

Despite holding it together throughout most of her speech, the Prime Minister broke down as she said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve “the country that I love” before running back in to Number 10.

With her voice cracking, she concluded her speech by saying: “I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold.

“The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.

“I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.”

Former Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson is the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Mrs May at odds of 6/4 , followed by former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who is placed at 6/2.

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