Why rising star is making a splash

UNTIL this week, Penny Mordaunt may have been best known for her 2014 stint on diver Tom Daley's reality TV show Splash! It also featured the likes of singer Paul Young and model Danielle Lloyd.

- PIPPA CRERAR

Mordaunt tried to impress the judges, despite modestly admitting she had the "elegance and drive of a paving slab".

Over the past few days she has dived headlong into an even bigger challenge and the navy reservist now looks like she's in with a chance of making it to No 10. She has consistently come second to Rishi Sunak and is ahead in the polls of Tory members.

But how did she pull off such a dramatic ascent?