Poll has Liz on 62%, Rishi at 38%
LIZ Truss’s leadership bid was given a major boost last night as a poll of Tory members suggested she already has a significant lead over Rishi Sunak.
In the first grassroots survey since the final two candidates were selected, the Foreign Secretary was 24 points ahead of the former chancellor.
The YouGov poll found 62 per cent said that they intended to vote for Miss Truss, compared with 38 per cent for Mr Sunak – excluding those who did not know or would not vote. Miss
Truss came second in the final round of voting by MPs on Wednesday, but the results point to her enjoying greater popularity among the party faithful.
Mr Sunak secured 137 votes on Wednesday, while Miss Truss leapfrogged Penny Mordaunt into second place with the backing of 113 Tory MPs.
Surveys have previously suggested that Mr Sunak would trail behind Miss Truss when mem
bers cast their ballots. Yesterday’s YouGov poll of 730 Conservative Party members, conducted on July 20 and 21, also found that the Foreign Secretary is considered more trustworthy.
Four in ten Tory members surveyed said that Mr Sunak ‘cannot be trusted to tell the truth’, while 63 per cent said that Miss Truss ‘can be trusted’.
Just 48 per cent said the ex-chancellor could be trusted. And almost two thirds of members – 62 per cent – thought Miss Truss would make a good leader, against 31 per cent thinking she would be a poor. Only half the membership surveyed said Mr Sunak would be a good leader.