Voters beginning to think Conservatives are ‘weird’, research suggests

Priti Patel was the only Tory leadership candidate that more than half of people could identify from a photo. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Conservative politicians have started to be seen as “weird”, and few members of the public – even including the party’s own voters – are able to identify the Tory leadership candidates, research suggests.

Asked who had the best chance of winning the next election for the Tories, 70% of respondents either said they did not know or that they thought none of the candidates could win – with James Cleverly given the greatest chance, on 8%, followed by Priti Patel.