Just 24 hours after the pair advanced to the final second round of the Tory leadership contest, the YouGov poll gives the foreign secretary a 24-point lead over the former chancellor. The survey – carried out after MPs’ final vote on Wednesday – shows 62 per cent of party members intend to vote for Ms Truss, compared to 38 per cent for Mr Sunak. The pollster’s previous survey earlier this week gave Ms Truss, who has pledged to introduce multibillion-pound tax cuts from “day one”, including reversing a planned rise in corporation tax, a 20-point lead among members. YouGov added in its latest poll of 730 members that the foreign secretary, who has the support of some of Johnson’s closest allies, “has significant advantages over Rishi Sunak on key indicators such as credibility and ability to lead the party”. . While just 18 per cent of Tory members said they could not trust Ms Truss to tell the truth – compared to 63 per cent who said she could – 40 per cent said Mr Sunack could not. It comes as the pair begin the arduous task of competing to win the support of members at hustings across the country in the summer, before the new Tory leader and the next UK prime minister are announced on September 5. In her first election visit since winning a place in the bottom two, Ms Truss hit out at her rival and said it would be “very difficult for the Conservatives to win an election” unless there is a change in current economic policy. Asked if Mr Sunak could win an election as Tory prime minister, she told broadcasters: “I think the problem is that if we continue with our current economic policy, which is predicted to lead to a recession, it will be very difficult for the Conservatives to win elections. “I’m someone who promotes, arranges and gets things done. That’s why I want to be prime minister. This is a critical time for our country. We need bold action. “We are in financial difficulty, the whole world is in financial difficulty. It’s not time for business as usual.” In the MPs’ fifth and final vote – the process which whittled the contenders down to just two for members to face – Mr Sunack emerged as Tory MPs’ choice, garnering 137 votes – 38 per cent of the parliamentary party. Ms Truss won the support of 113 (32 per cent), after winning the support of 59 supporters from fellow right-winger Kemi Badenoch, who was voted out in the previous round.
