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James Cleverly is the preferred candidate to win the Tory leadership race amongst the British public, a new poll has shown – but a majority of respondents said they don’t know who they would support.
Asked which candidate would make the best prime minister, new polling by Techne put the former home secretary narrowly ahead of his rival candidates at 13 per cent support.
In second place was Robert Jenrick with 12 per cent backing. Kemi Badenoch was in third place with 10 per cent support, while Tom Tugendhat was trailing behind with six per cent.
Some 59 per cent said they don’t know.
A spokesperson for Mr Cleverly’s campaign said: “This shows that James is the candidate that can win back voters that we lost at the last election, as well as those that stayed at home.
“We don’t have a moment to lose if we are to be fighting fit ahead of the local elections in May. James knows what needs to be done and he’s ready to deliver.”
The survey spoke to 1,638 adults on September 25 and 26.
The polling comes on the first day of the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, which will see the four leadership contenders parade themselves in front of party members in what has been described as a beauty contest to shore up support.
They will take part in two official leadership hustings events as well as Q&A sessions, fringe events and drinks receptions as they make their case to the Tory rank and file.
On Saturday night, Mr Cleverly held a “Bevs with Clevs” drinks event for supporters ahead of the conference’s start.
The final two contenders will face a vote of party members next month.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Mr Cleverly said voters gave up on the Conservatives’ “bickering” ahead of the last general election, which saw Labour win a landslide victory.
He said: “Look, when the voters tell you something, you should listen. The British voters told us not that they wanted a Labour government, in fact, in many instances they told us they didn’t want a Labour government.
“But what they did tell us is they wanted us out of office. And we have got to listen to that. We have got to respond to that.
“There’s no point getting angry with the voters. We certainly shouldn’t imply or say that they were wrong. Voters are never wrong. Sometimes politics is brutal but it’s beautiful.”