Voters think Sunak would be better PM than Truss, new poll shows

Polling by Opinium suggests that while the difference is slight among voters, 43 per cent believe Sunak would be a good prime minister compared to 36 per cent for the Foreign Secretary.

The results, based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults between July 20-22, also suggest that 49 per cent of voters believe that Boris Johnson should leave Downing Street immediately to make way for a caretaker prime minister.

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Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are currently in a race to secure the backing of Tory Party members, who will vote to decide the next Conservative leader and, as a result, the next prime minister.

The polling by Opinium suggests that 45 per cent see Mr Sunak as a "bad" prime minister, versus 41 per cent for Ms Truss.

It also reveals that 34 per cent want a prime minister who is in touch with ordinary people, while the same proportion want someone who is trustworthy.

Some 24 per cent wanted "competence" in a leader.

In good news for Mr Sunak, voters gave him the highest net score for competence at +9 per cent.

But he also polled -17 per cent on trustworthiness and -38 per cent on "being out of touch".

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Ms Truss polled better on those qualities, although she scored -12% on the question of looking like a prime minister in-waiting.

Both candidates still have time to make an impression on the public, with the pair set to face off in a debate on July 26 hosted by The Sun and TalkTV, following a televised BBC debate on Monday.

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss have also signed up for a Sky debate on August 4.