Tory MPs rather than voters are likely to remember the leadership contest insults for longer, according to a Conservative pollster.
Lord Hayward, a former MP and current Tory peer, believes the tone of the campaign will have a short-term impact on the wider electorate, although other issues will be more important to them by the next general election.
But the “more immediate, difficult and possibly slightly longer-lasting” impact of the campaign will be within the Conservative parliamentary party itself, Lord Hayward added.
This will require either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss to create the circumstances under which the “previous frictions disappear”, he said.
So what did the people of social media make of last night’s debate?
Reactions
Reactions came in thick and fast after the debate had concluded.
We’ve trawled Twitter for the best of the bunch:
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Larry for leader?
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Related: Watch: Creepy start to Tory leadership debate has been made even creepier
