Voters believe Rishi Sunak will make good PM, U.K. opinion poll finds

London Almost half of the voters for the U.K.’s governing Conservative Party believe Rishi Sunak w

Almost half of the voters for the U.K.’s governing Conservative Party believe Rishi Sunak will make a good Prime Minister, according to the results of a new opinion poll on July 17.

‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reports that the JL Partners poll of more than 4,400 people found that 48% of those who backed the Tories in the 2019 general election felt the British Indian former Chancellor would be a good Prime Minister.

This is also the first poll that puts Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in second place, with 39% backing her for Prime Minister and 33% in favour of Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt.

The survey comes as the race to elect Boris Johnson’s successor as the next Conservative Party leader is narrowing down to these three main contenders, with former Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch and Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Tugendhat in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

“Among those who have heard of Ms. Mordaunt, the overwhelming view is one of neutrality,” James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners and a former Downing Street pollster, told the newspaper.

“Sunak invites strong opinions. One-third of voters think he would be good in the top job, one third do not. But in an unpopular field where every other candidate is in net-negative territory, this score draw makes him the public’s favourite. He is particularly popular with the all-important 2019 Conservative voter, as the only candidate to have half approve of him,” he said.

Among all voters, the most popular policy priority was to “turn the economy around”, with addressing the National Health Service (NHS) backlog and restoring trust and integrity in public life coming second and third respectively.