Could Rory Stewart become our next prime minister?

It stretches from Longtown and Brampton to Kirby Stephen and Tebay, and takes in not only the entirety of the Eden district but also parts of Carlisle and Allerdale.

It is tough to get around it all. It would be even tougher if you’re the prime minister.

Yet its MP is undeterred. Rory Stewart is one of the Conservative MPs who has put his name forward for next leader of his party – and so for next prime minister.

Cumbria’s other two Conservative MPs aren’t backing their colleague for the top job. Both John Stevenson and Trudy Harrison have said they will be voting for Michael Gove in the leadership election.

And Mr Stewart may not get the backing of some other MPs and Tory party activists either. He voted remain in the EU referendum and backed Theresa May’s withdrawal deal in parliament – putting him at odds with many of them.

But Kevin Beaty, a Conservative member of Eden District Council and former council leader, is a staunch supporter.

“Rory has a really firm grasp of the problems around Brexit. But he also understands the social problems in the UK, especially around life in the north and the countryside. He would be able to bring that perspective to the national debate.”

Mr Beaty doesn’t believe the MP’s previous support for remain will count against him. “Rory understands that we need to deliver Brexit now.

“He feels that a no-deal Brexit would be highly damaging. Not delivering Brexit will also be damaging, and most people are coming to accept that.”

Tory MPs will vote on all 11 leadership candidates and the two who come top will face a vote by party members. If Mr Stewart makes the top two, Mr Beaty will vote for him.

Mr Stewart had a career as a diplomat before becoming an MP and the councillor says: “I don’t think there will be anybody more experienced in running a country. It would be great if he does manage to make the top two.”

Mr Stewart’s job as a constituency MP is much more secure than the job of any party leader or prime minister. Penrith and the Border is very safe Conservative territory. It has had a Tory MP ever since it was created, in 1950. Robert Scott, Willie Whitelaw and David Maclean are Mr Stewart’s predecessors.

At the last election Mr Stewart received 60.4 per cent of the vote, and a majority of almost 16,000.

But is prime minister a job anybody really wants at the moment?

“Whoever makes it will certainly have their work cut out for them,” notes Ian Chambers, group leader of Eden Council’s Conservatives.

And his position on the EU may deter some voters. “There was a leave majority in this area and he went against that.

“But he has come up through the ranks, he’s been a negotiator in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has got a clear grasp. I don’t see why he couldn’t be a good prime minister.”

If the top job is an unenviable one at the moment then once Brexit is sorted it could become a more attractive proposition.

Could it be that Mr Stewart is positioning himself to be the next leader but one?

“He has thrown his hat in the ring,” Mr Chambers says. “If he doesn’t win this time he’ll have got the confidence to have another go.”

He adds: “How it will pan out in the end, nobody knows. But we will support him and do what we can to help.”

People from other parts of the constituency speak highly of the MP, and point out that his interest is not confined to Penrith.

Gillian Hodgson is chair of the governors at Brampton Primary School and says that Mr Stewart is a familiar face in the town.

“He is very popular in Cumbria and very popular in Brampton,” she says. “We see him and his wife when the farmers’ market is on. He does regular surgeries a St Martin’s Church hall and he’s been to the primary school. He is involved in what’s happening.

“I think he would make a good leader. But whoever takes over will have a very hard job to do.”

If Mr Stewart were to become prime minister he would have less time for visits to the constituency. Yet Mrs Hodgson reckons: “I don’t think he’d forget the people who put him in place. He’s not that type of person.

“We need a ‘people’ person and he would be one of those.”

Gordon Routledge is vice-chairman of Arthuret parish council, which covers Longtown, and a writer on local history.

He has met Mr Stewart many times and says: “He strikes me as a very intelligent man, and a nice person.”

The MP holds regular surgeries in the community centre in Longtown and Mr Routledge says: “I’ve raised issues about the local community with him, such as the future of the MOD site or the railway line. I’ve found him always interested and helpful.”

If he did become prime minister he would be among the youngest.

Mr Stewart is 46, and the only younger ones in recent years have been Tony Blair and David Cameron – both 43 when they entered Downing Street,

Nor is he a long-serving MP. He only entered parliament in 2010 and has been a cabinet minister for less than a month.

He had been a junior minister but it was only in May that he was appointed Secretary of State for International Development.

However Mr Routledge argues that he has plenty of experience, given his career as a diplomat.

Diplomacy is not something the front runner, Boris Johnson, is renowned for – as his spell as Foreign Secretary seemed to show.

“Rory has got a background in liaising with people from other countries,” he points out. “I think he would probably be very capable.”

And though he accepts that Mr Stewart’s support for remain may not be a vote winner among Tory activists, it wouldn’t necessarily lose him votes in the rest of the country.

When the totals were added up, remain parties won more votes in last week’s Euro elections than Brexit ones.

“He supports the union of the UK and the union of the EU, and I agree with him on that.

“I think the nations of the UK are better off together, and I think we are probably better off staying in the EU.

“If we did have another referendum the result would probably be about equal, or remain would be in the majority.

“He is an outsider but I think he has a chance. The favourite doesn’t always win.

“He has as much right to stand as anyone else. If he wants to go for the premiership, good luck to him.”