Voters think Sunak would be better PM than Truss, new poll shows
23 July 2022, 20:05
Voters believe that Rishi Sunak would make a better prime minister than Liz Truss, according to a new poll.
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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.
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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.
