Over 65% of Conservatives to vote for Truss as future UK PM: Poll

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Aug 2022 13:37
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In the race towards electing the new PM to succeed Boris Johnson, a new poll suggests that Truss leads ahead of Sunak.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (Archive)

A joint poll conducted by YouGov and Sky News revealed that more than 65% of UK Conservative Party members intend to vote for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to become the next UK prime minister and Tory leader.

According to the poll, 66% of Tory members are willing to vote for Truss, while the Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has only 34% support. 13% of Conservatives have not yet decided how they will vote.

Outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains popular among Conservative Party members, as per the poll. 55% believe Johnson's resignation was a mistake, while 40% believe it was the right thing to do. If Johnson had been running for prime minister, 46% of Conservatives would have supported him, compared to 24% for Truss and 23% for Sunak.

As of Wednesday, 57% of respondents stated they had already voted, while 38% said they had yet to decide. Among those who had already voted, 68% preferred Truss, while 31% preferred Sunak.

YouGov conducted the poll for Sky News, interviewing 1,089 Tory members from August 12 to 17.

Sunak and Truss will now take their case to Conservative party members, who will decide the new leader and prime minister after a series of nationwide hustings in August. The result will be announced on September 5.

It is noteworthy that under Britain's parliamentary system, the leader of the biggest party is the prime minister and can be changed mid-term without having to call a general election.