London: More Conservative supporters believe Boris Johnson should remain in Downing Street than back Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to become prime minister combined, polling has found.
Some 49 per cent of Tories believe Johnson should stay as prime minister, compared with 20 per cent for the former chancellor and 18 per cent for the Foreign Secretary.
Boris johnson is in his final weeks as British prime minister but it appears most Conservatives don’t want him to go.Credit:Getty Images
Johnson was forced to resign by MPs from his own party last month after a series of scandals, including so-called partygate, in which he was found to have overseen a culture of illegal partying in his office while the country was in lockdown.
Boris and Carrie Johnson have already moved out of the prime ministerial residence at Downing Street and are expected to spend the final weeks of his leadership at the PM’s official country residence Chequers.
Once the new prime minister is announced on September 5, Johnson will be able to charge six-figure sums for speeches on the US speaking circuit while he also intends to complete a book on William Shakespeare.
The YouGov survey, in The Times newspaper, indicated that many Conservative voters have “seller’s remorse” over the ousting of Johnson.
The newspaper also commissioned focus group research which found that many people thought the leadership campaign had damaged the Conservative Party.
Richard, a plumber in the marginal seat of Southampton Itchen in Britain’s south, said: “The others have not had to deal with everything he’s had to.
“He stepped straight in and it was Brexit and then it was COVID and now it’s the war in Ukraine. Everybody waffles on about, he should have done this, he should have done that. But I’d like to see them in his shoes.”
Voters in the so-called Blue Wall seat of Esher and Walton in London’s south-west felt he had been unfairly ousted.
“I really liked Boris and I was really, really disappointed in the way he was treated,” said one swing voter.
“They’re picking on minor things. You know, furnishings and wallpaper and making such a big deal about it. And it’s the media. The media are the ones that turn everyone against him.”
Forty per cent of voters who chose the Tories in 2019 said the contest had made them think worse of the party, while under a quarter were convinced of the candidates’ plans to tackle the cost of living crisis.
“Quite honestly, they all talk rubbish, because it’s like going for a job interview,” said Stacey, a buyer who works for a housebuilding firm.
“You’re going to say that you’re wonderful but, when it comes down to it, are any of them actually going to follow through? Because somebody needs to right now.
“The whole world is going crazy and a lot of people at the minute need help.”
When a focus group was asked to describe each of the candidates, Sunak was variously called “slimey”, “cringey” and a “backstabber” while Truss was characterised as “awkward”, “flitty” and “unconvincing”.
Former British cabinet minister Michael Gove on Friday endorsed Sunak for prime minister and announced an end of his frontline political career.
Gove wrote in The Times that he thinks Truss’ campaign for 10 Downing Street “has been a holiday from reality”.
Separate polling of Tory members by the ConservativeHome website last week put Truss ahead of Sunak by a substantial 32 points in the race to become prime minister.
Some 60 per cent of the 961 Tory members polled said they favoured Truss to become the Conservative Party’s new leader, while just 28 per cent backed Sunak.
The Telegraph, London with wires
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