According to the most recent poll by a betting exchange firm, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is dominating the race to succeed Boris Johnson as the UK’s next prime minister by 90%.
According to Smarkets, Liz Truss has a 90.91 percent probability of being the next permanent member of the Conservative Party following Johnson, but Rishi Sunak’s likelihood of becoming the next UK Prime Minister has reduced by 9.09 percent.
Both candidates must compete in 12 countrywide events, with the first taking place in Leeds, Northern England, when the members vote for a new leader. Truss is dominating Tory member polls after promising urgent tax cuts as Britain faces a drop in living standards.
Sunak said in his speech following Truss’ announcement of immediate tax cuts, “In the face of challenges, understand that getting a grip on inflation and borrowing first is critical,” adding that the government has already tried having a low corporation tax to encourage businesses to invest and it hasn’t worked.
His support dwindled when his party members suspected Sunak of stabbing Boris Johnson in the back.
Members of the Conservative Party that support Truss and want her to construct the cabinet include Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries, and Boris Johnson. According to the most recent poll by an Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, Tory members that favour Sunak includes Tom Tugendhat, Michael Gove, Sajid Javid, and Jeremy Hunt.
Notably, Truss and Sunak, the candidates for UK Prime Minister, faced off in their first formal grilling in front of Conservative Party members in Leeds on Thursday. Former Chancellor Sunak had a difficult evening at the hustings due to his lifestyle and dishonesty against PM Boris Johnson, but Truss had a relatively nice night because she had the most support for the prime ministerial nomination.
Earlier, the poll found that Truss increased her advantage against Rishi Sunak by 24 points. Now that the two have finally announced their summer campaign, a new YouGov survey of Tory members shows that Truss maintains a significant lead.
In the first-ever TV debate on July 25, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss exchanged barbs on economic policies and foreign relations. The candidates are said to have disagreed on Britain’s future relations with China after breaking ties with Russia.
However, the second Tory leadership discussion between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss was called off on Tuesday (local time) as presenter Kate McCann fainted and fell live on TV.
The leadership campaign was sparked by Johnson’s forced resignation on July 7 amid an avalanche of resignations from government employees protesting his scandal-plagued leadership. Johnson will continue to serve as caretaker prime minister until a new Conservative leader is appointed.
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