Pollster Find Out Now and election experts Electoral Calculus have run a poll asking people whom they prefer as leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister.
The poll asked GB residents who is their preferred choice to be the new leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister – Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss.
In summary:
We asked 2,263 people "Who is your preferred choice to be the new leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister?"
| Response | All Voters | CON Voters | LAB+LIB Voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunak | 27% | 31% | 32% |
| Truss | 16% | 29% | 8% |
| Don't know | 57% | 41% | 60% |
The table excludes those who refused to answer, but includes those who didn't know.
Our poll shows that Sunak is the more popular candidate against the general public. Among Conservative voters, opinion is fairly evenly divided, and the two candidates are neck-and-neck within the margin of error. Among Labour and Liberal Democrat voters, there is a very strong preference for Sunak over Truss.
Chris Holbrook, CEO of Find Out Now: "If voting for Truss is a form of revenge against Sunak, Tory members might want to consider what these results mean for their next fight."
Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus: "The general public are unsure about the Conservative leadership contest, and many people don't know whom they prefer. But of those with a preference, Rishi Sunak is relatively more popular than Liz Truss. This is especially true of Labour and Lib Dem leaning supporters. This suggests that Truss's appeal may be more limited to the Conservative base, while Sunak might be able to connect to a wider public. This poll of actual voters is in stark contrast to polls of Conservative members only, who favour Truss by a wide margin."
Find Out Now polled 2,263 GB adults online on 31 August 2022. The sample was weighted to be representative by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns.
Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
Full tables can be downloaded here.