May gives Tories ‘best election hope’

THE CONSERVATIVES would be better off with Theresa May in a General Election than any other leader, a poll has found.

And the Tories’ election prospects would be harmed if Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg were in charge, according to the ICM poll for the Guardian. The results will make welcome reading for No 10 ahead of what is expected to be a tumultuous party conference season.

The only scenario which could improve Tory prospects, says the poll, is if the party was led by an unspecified person who was ‘quite young and able [and] not currently in government’.

The Conservatives remain mired in questions over an autumn leadership challenge after the Prime Minister’s Chequers’ Brexit plan led to the resignation of ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis and Mr Johnson.

The former Foreign Secretary, who is said to be planning a conference speech to rival Mrs May’s, has soared to the top of the future leadership board in the regular survey of Conservative party members conducted by the ConservativeHome website.

But, asked by ICM if the Tories would have a better chance of winning the next election under Mr Johnson, only 27 per cent of respondents agreed. Some 5 per cent disagreed.