The Defense Secretary beats all other contenders in a YouGov poll of Tory members who they would vote for. The pollster asked members who they would choose in a head-to-head contest, asking about several different scenarios with different candidates. In all scenarios containing Mr Wallace he wins by a significant margin, they found. The former soldier and MP for Wyre and Preston North, who has played a prominent role in the UK’s response to the war in Ukraine, also tops members’ preferences overall, albeit by a narrower margin. The Tory rank and file will ultimately decide who becomes prime minister, but they will only have to choose between two final candidates, narrowed down by a larger field of Conservative MPs. This means Mr Wallace may not make it to the bottom two unless he can build a large enough base of support in the parliamentary party at Westminster. Mr Wallace leads Liz Truss by 48% to 29%, Penny Mordaunt by 48% to 26%, Rishi Sunak by 51% to 30% and Jeremy Hunt by 58% to 22%. She topped a wide-open field of candidates as the first preference vote with 13 per cent, just ahead of Ms Mordaunt on 12 per cent and Mr Sunak on 10 per cent. Liz Truss follows on 8 per cent while Michael Gove and Dominic Raab are on 7 per cent each. Tom Tugenhadt gathers 6 per cent, just ahead of Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi on 5 per cent and Sajid Javid on 4 per cent.
UK government faces new scandal as MP resigns Show all 3
1/3 UK government faces new scandal as MP resigns
UK government faces new scandal as MP resigns
Spain NATO Summit
Spain NATO Summit Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
UK government faces new scandal as MP resigns
Spain NATO Summit
Spain NATO Summit Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
UK government faces new scandal as MP resigns
Spain NATO Summit
Spain NATO Summit Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved But Tory members are only part of the story and all candidates will have to survive the previous rounds of the contest and win the endorsement of their fellow MPs. Preferences could also change during the leadership contest itself, in which the candidates – many of whom are relatively unknown – will set their sights. Mr Wallace has not yet announced that he will run in the contest. YouGov polling of party members’ preferences has previously been broadly accurate in both Tory and Labor contests. The pollster asked for a weighted sample of 716 members. Johnson is expected to announce his resignation on Thursday after more than 50 MPs resigned from government posts in protest over the handling of an alleged sexual abuse case by one of his political allies.
