Poll shows Tory members still prefer Johnson to remain PM despite Truss 66 point lead
With just two weeks to go in the Conservative leadership race, a new poll has claimed Boris Johnson is still more popular than Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Figures released by YouGov shows Liz Truss has 66 per cent Tory members’ support compared to Rishi Sunak, on 34 per cent.
The 32-point lead however pales into insignificance in terms of popularity compared to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with 46 per cent of Tory members polled favouring him over Sunak and Truss (23 and 24 per cent).
55 per cent say the yalso feel MPs were wrong to force Johnson to resign, while two-fifths stand by the decision.
According to YouGov, nearly all ballot papers have now been received and 57 per cent of the party electorate have cast their vote.
It is not known exactly how many Conservative members there are, but it’s thought to be around 160,000.
The figures claim Truss has taken 68 per cent of the vote from those who have already cast their ballot.
An Opinum poll of the general electorate found 44 per cent said neither Truss or Sunak would make the best PM.
Truss according to that poll was on 43 per cent, down nine points, while Sunak was up three points to 31.
Sunak supporter Kevin Hollinrake criticised Truss on Sky News this morning accusing her of a “scattergun approach” to tax and getting inflation under control.
He also said the former chancellor “saved millions of jobs” in the pandemic.
This comes after Michael Gove nailed his colours to the mast on the weekend, backing Sunak and calling Truss’ tax plans as “taking a holiday from reality”.
The Conservative leadership contest will conclude on 4 September, with either Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss walking into Number 10.