A YouGov poll of party members completed on August 2 shows Rishi Sunak to be trailing Liz Truss 31% to 69% in the Conservative leadership contest. A similar poll completed on July 21 had him on 38% to her 62%. She appears to be winning the contest hands down.
This is surprising given that Sunak was a very popular chancellor at the time of the Covid lockdown, in large part due to his generosity in supporting workers with the furlough scheme. But the survey shows that the members prefer Truss to him by large margins on the key policy issues such as the cost of living, the NHS, asylum seekers, housing and defence.
In addition, they think she is more likely to deliver a Conservative victory in the next election – although many are pessimistic about whether this can be achieved. This raises the interesting question: why he is doing so badly among the party members?
