More than half of Tory members think MPs were WRONG to force Boris Johnson from power and scandal-plagued leader would WIN re-election and stay as PM if he was on the ballot
- 40% of those surveyed said they would vote for the current PM if they could
- Some 53% said MPs were wrong to force him from power in the first place
- Those MPs included leadership contender Rishi Sunak, who quit as chancellor
Boris Johnson would remain in No10 as prime minister if he was allowed to run for Tory leader again, a new poll shows today.
Conservative members lashed out at party MPs who forced Mr Johnson to announce he was stepping down last month in a sign of the divisive nature of his leadership.
Some 53 per cent of those polled by YouGov for the Times said that the more than 60 ministers who quit to bring down an administration cripple by sleaze has been wrong to act.
Those MPs included leadership contender Rishi Sunak, who quit as chancellor, but not Liz Truss, who remains Foreign Secretary.
However, the poll also suggested Mr Johnson would beat both of them, were he allowed to run.
Some 40 per cent of those surveyed said they would back the current PM if the party altered its rules to allow him to defend his position.
A grassroots campaign by some of Mr Johnson’s closest allies has pushed for this to happen but there are no plans for the rules to be changed.
Some 53 per cent of those polled by YouGov for the Times said that the more than 60 ministers who quit to bring down an administration cripple by sleaze has been wrong to act.
Threats of protests and pickets at the 12 leadership hustings around the country, made by millionaire Tory donor Lord Cruddas, have yet to materialise.
While Ms Truss and Mr Sunak prepare for the third hustings in Cardiff tonight, Mr Johnson is due to depart on a short holiday.
At the weekend he used a speech at his lavish weekend wedding celebration to claim he was the victim of ‘the greatest stitch-up since the Bayeux Tapestry’.
He made the remarks as he and Carrie gathered with their closest friends and family at the country estate of a billionaire Tory donor to celebrate their lockdown marriage.
In an address to guests including his Cabinet supporters and celebrities including soap star and singer Holly Vallance, he suggested that he did not deserve to be forced from power.
This is despite the catalogue of sleaze and economic woe that led up to the departure of more than 50 ministers last month, including Partygate and Wallpapergate.
According to the Times he joked that he had received ‘masses of letters to resign, mostly from my closest family’ but became ‘aware of the cloud on the horizon’.
He then likened the mass walk-out that prompted his own reluctant resignation to the famous 70m (230 foot) artwork housed in Normandy but made in England.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will face the Tory faithful tonight amid strong signs that the party has already made up its mind who it wants to become its next leader and prime minister.
Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, opened up an astonishing 34-point lead in the latest opinion poll of Conservative members who make up the electorate, suggesting Mr Sunak has a mountain to climb.
Ms Truss, the Foreign Secretary, opened up an astonishing 34-point lead in the latest opinion poll of Conservative members who make up the electorate, suggesting Mr Sunak has a mountain to climb.
The survey by YouGov for the Times also pours cold water on the former chancellor’s hopes of changing their minds, as he prepares for tonight’s third hustings in Cardiff.
More than 80 per cent of those who say they will support his rival insist their minds are already made up and they plan to cast their votes for her as soon as possible.
Just 17 per cent say they might still change their mind while 29 per cent of Mr Sunak’s supporters say they might still vote differently.
In another blow, the vote has been hit by a delay after spy chiefs warned that ballots ‘could be vulnerable to hackers’.
Originally, Conservative party members were going to be given a postal ballot which had a code with it, individual to each voter.
Afterwards, they could then submit their choice by post or online for the first time- and were able to change their decision later in the contest.
But that is no longer possible because of fears the vote could be manipulated.
Ms Truss, who has for weeks been the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, is supported by 60 per cent of Conservative members.
Just 26 per cent said they were backing former chancellor Mr Sunak, who has been launching a policy blitz in a bid to catch up with his rival.
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