Boris is favourite to succeed May

BORIS Johnson is favourite among party members to succeed Theresa May as Tory leader, a poll reveals.

Some 3 per cent backed the Foreign Secretary as the next leader and suggested his position on Brexit had paid off as 69 per cent said he was doing a good job.

He was ahead of Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson on 19 per cent and backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg on 17, a YouGov poll for The Times found. It came as Mrs May admitted the Tories had been unprepared for the June snap election – even though calling the vote was her decision.

Her admission is likely to anger MPs who did not keep their seats as the Tories lost their majority.

Mrs May told House magazine she agreed the party did so badly because it had been a snap election, saying: ‘By definition… you’ve not been able to prepare people for it.’