Rishi Sunak remains the most popular potential Tory leader among the British public, but most other candidates lack “name recognition”, a poll has found.
Some 37 per cent of the public told pollster Ipsos that the former British chancellor would do a good job as British prime minister, making him the only leadership candidate with a higher rating than UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on 33 per cent.
British foreign secretary Liz Truss and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt came joint second on 24 per cent, although Mr Hunt had the highest number of people saying he would do a bad job, at one in three.
Current British chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and trade minister Penny Mordaunt were almost level on 22 per cent and 21 per cent respectively, followed by Tom Tugendhat on 19 per cent, Suella Braverman on 16 per cent and Kemi Badenoch on 15 per cent.
An Ipsos poll of 2019 Conservative voters also found a significant lead for Mr Sunak, with 55 per cent backing him to be a good prime minister, followed by Ms Truss on 39 per cent and Ms Mordaunt on 33 per cent
But the survey of 1,000 British adults, carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday, found Mr Sunak was by far the most well known of the candidates. Some 60 per cent said they knew a great deal or a fair amount about him, and 56 per cent correctly identified him as the former chancellor.
Mr Hunt was the second most well known on 40 per cent, followed by Ms Truss on 33 per cent and Mr Zahawi on 28 per cent.
Ms Mordaunt was known by 20 per cent of people and Mr Tugendhat by 15 per cent, while Ms Badenoch and Ms Braverman were on just 14 per cent.
However, 12 per cent of people told Ipsos that they knew either a great deal or a fair amount about Stewart Lewis, a fake candidate created by the pollster.
Some 6 per cent even said they knew “a great deal” about the non-existent Mr Lewis, more than the 5 per cent who said the same thing about Ms Braverman, Britain's Attorney General, and the same proportion as for Ms Badenoch and Mr Tugendhat.
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said Mr Sunak’s support “at least partly reflects his greater name recognition”.
He added: “The large numbers of people who are unfamiliar with the candidates means that there is still scope for public attitudes to change, which lends some unpredictability as Conservative MPs and then members think about who they would vote for.”
Almost two-thirds of people claimed they were following the leadership contest closely, while 82 per cent said the same about stories on the weather and 87 per cent about stories on the cost of living.
Mr Skinner added: “Even though most people say they are following the contest, this research also reminds us that the issue that is really grabbing public attention at the moment is the cost-of-living crisis – addressing this is going to be crucial for whoever does become our next prime minister.”
