Isi Sunak remains the most popular potential Tory leader with the public, but most other candidates lack “name recognition”, according to a poll. Some 37% of the public said in the Ipsos poll that the former chancellor would do a good job as prime minister, making him the only leadership candidate with a higher rating than Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer on 33%. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – who was kicked out of the race after Tory MPs first voted on Wednesday – came joint second on 24%, although Mr Hunt had the largest number of people which they said would do harm. work, one in three. Current chancellor Nadhim Zahawi – who also dropped out of the race on the first ballot – and trade secretary Penny Mordaunt were almost level on 22% and 21% respectively, followed by Tom Tugendhat on 19%, Suella Braverman on 16% and Kemi Badenoch. 15%. An Ipsos poll of Conservative voters in 2019 also found a significant lead for Mr Sunak, with 55% backing him as a good prime minister, followed by Ms Truss on 39% and Ms Mordaud on 33%.
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(PA Graphics) / PA Graphics But the survey of 1,000 British adults, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, found that Mr Sunak was by far the most popular of the candidates. About 60% said they knew a lot or quite a bit about him and 56% correctly identified him as a former chancellor. Mr Hunt was the second most popular at 40%, followed by Ms Truss at 33% and Mr Zahawi at 28%. Ms Mordaunt was known by 20% of people and Mr Tugendhat by 15%, while Ms Badenoch and Ms Braverman were just 14%. However, 12% of people told Ipsos they knew either a lot or quite a lot about Stewart Lewis, a bogus candidate created by the pollster. Some 6% even said they knew “a lot” about the non-existent Mr Lewis, more than 5% who said the same about Ms Braverman, the Attorney General, and the same proportion as Ms Badenoch and Mr .Tugendhat. Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said Mr Sunak’s support “at least partly reflects his greater name recognition”. He added: “The large number of people unfamiliar with the candidates means there is still room for public attitudes to change, which adds some unpredictability as Conservative MPs and then members consider who they would vote for.” Almost two-thirds of people claimed to be following the leadership contest closely, while 82% said the same for stories about the weather and 87% for stories about the cost of living. Mr Skinner added: “While most people say they are watching the competition, this survey also reminds us that the issue that is really grabbing the public’s attention at the moment is the cost of living crisis – tackling this will be critical for whoever become our next prime minister.”
