Labour is falling apart far faster than I would have anticipated

Ms Lopez is now Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and, despite intense competition from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, she believes that Mrs Badenoch can become PM at the next election.

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Labour is “falling apart far faster than I would have anticipated”, she says.Having served as one of Mrs Badenoch’s closest aides, she is impressed both by how she has grown “enormously” as a leader and by the values that drive her.

“There’s a lot about politics that is difficult and painful and requires personal sacrifice,” Ms Lopez says. “And I think that she is doing it because she believes that in making those sacrifices she will be making the country a more sustainable place for the next generation. I think that’s a very noble mission.”

Ms Lopez entered politics as a councillor in London’s Tower Hamlets in 2014. She ran for a seat, as she puts it, to “fight corruption and electoral fraud” having been appalled at the chaotic scenes she witnessed when she attended a council meeting.

The young Conservative was dismayed by her close encounter with “nasty, divisive politics based on your identity rather than what you believe in”.

“I loathe identity politics,” she adds, admitting she worries about it “very deeply”.

When Mrs May called the 2017 snap election there was a rush to select candidates. Ms Lopez, who was born in Harlow and grew in Stansted, was picked for the northeast London constituency of Hornchurch and Upminster.

She won it with six out of 10 of the votes but arrived in a Westminster where the PM had lost her majority and the party was sharply divided on Brexit.