Majority of Tory members say their leader should quit

Tory MPs’ concerns that any attempt to replace Liz Truss could trigger a membership revolt have been put to bed by a devastating new poll.

More than half of Conservative Party members now think Liz Truss should resign, and a significant majority would support a coronation of her successor by Tory MPs, a poll has found.

In a sign of “buyers’ remorse”, a YouGov poll of more than 500 Tory members found that 55 per cent thought she should step down, as opposed to 38 per cent who thought she should stay in office. Even among those who voted for Ms Truss in the summer leadership contest 39 per cent thought she should now quit.

More than twice as many members would now choose Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor of the exchequer, as Ms Truss if the leadership election were rerun, the poll found: a margin of 55 per cent to 25 per cent. Ms Truss won that contest by 57 per cent to 43 per cent.

The poll is likely to increase momentum among senior Tories looking for a unity candidate to succeed her. There had been concerns among MPs that any attempt at replacement could trigger a revolt among grassroots supporters.

More than twice as many Conservative Party members would now choose Rishi Sunak (left), the former chancellor of the exchequer, as Liz Truss (right). Picture: AFP

But the poll of Tory members found that 60 per cent would support MPs agreeing to a single unity candidate, effectively cutting out Tory members from the process. Just 37 per cent would oppose a coronation. The finding will increase pressure on the 1922 Committee of backbenchers to find a way of choosing a successor.

Exactly half would oppose another members’ vote if the contest came down to two candidates, with only 45 per cent wanting another say if MPs could not agree on a single candidate.

The polling was conducted between Monday and Tuesday as Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor, unveiled plans to rip up Ms Truss’s mini-budget.

It found that Boris Johnson was the members’ favourite to take over, with 32 per cent saying he should return to No.10 if Ms Truss quit, ahead of Mr Sunak on 23 per cent. Both candidates were well ahead of other prominent figures, with Ben Wallace on 10 per cent, followed by Penny Mordaunt on 9 per cent and Kemi Badenoch on 8 per cent.

Mr Hunt, whose abrupt reversal of Ms Truss’s core policies has reassured markets and revived talk of him taking over from her, was chosen by just 7 per cent of Tory members, while Suella Braverman had the support of 3 per cent of members.

About 72 per cent of members who voted for Ms Truss now said she was doing a bad job as prime minister, and only half said they would vote for her again.

Members were split on Ms Truss’s decision to sack Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, with 46 per cent of members saying she had made the right decision and 42 per cent saying it was wrong.

A separate YouGov poll of voters found just 10 per cent of voters now had a favourable opinion of the prime minister. The survey, conducted before Tuesday’s budget U-turns, found that Ms Truss’s net favourability of minus 70 was now a full 15 points worse than Corbyn’s worst score of minus 55 in June 2019.

The view of Ms Truss among Conservative voters also continues to fall, with just one in five (20 per cent) having a favourable view of the prime minister and 71 per cent having an unfavourable view. Her net favourability score of minus 51 was down 26 points since last week.

Almost three times as many Britons had a favourable view of Mr Johnson (29 per cent) as Ms Truss. His net favourability score sat at minus 36. Mr Sunak’s overall net favourability rating was minus 18.

– The Times