Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has an edge over his rival, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in the race to be elected the next Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister among swing voters, a new survey revealed on Thursday.
The British Indian ex-minister, who has been trailing Truss among the hardcore Tory members who will vote for their favourite in postal ballots from next week, is favoured among voters who had voted Conservative for the first time in the 2019 general election.
"While there is little to separate the two leadership candidates among for example those who currently intend to vote [Opposition] Labour (minus 59 for Sunak, minus 62 for Truss) or those who voted Conservative in 2019 (0 and +3 respectively), the crucial difference between Truss and Sunak comes among swing voters,” YouGov said in a statement.
"Net favourability among those who voted Conservative in 2019 but now tell us they plan to vote Labour stands at minus 25 for Sunak and minus 45 for Truss. Equally, scores among those who voted Labour in 2017 but Conservative in 2019 register at minus 6 for Sunak and minus 19 for Truss,” it said.