Rishi Sunak is more popular with swing voters than Liz Truss, new poll shows

RISHI Sunak is the preferred candidate to replace Boris Johnson among swing voters, according to a new poll.

The wannabe PM edges over Liz Truss by four points with people who voted Tory in 2019 but say they don’t know how they would vote in an election today.

A source close to Mr Sunak told Trending In The News: “Only Rishi can beat Sir Keir Starmer at the next election.

“Whether it is in Labour facing seats in the Red Wall, or Lib Dem target areas in the South, only Rishi has the vision to unite the country behind a positive agenda that works for everyone in our United Kingdom.”

The new YouGov survey comes as the leadership candidates prepare for the first official Tory hustings in Leeds tonight.

The pair will be quizzed by Conservative members on their plans for the North of England and why they are best placed to level up the UK.

They’re also expected to clash heads once again on plans to slash taxes and fund public services.

Ms Truss and Mr Sunak both signed Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen’s five-point Levelling Up Pledge.

They’ve promised to:

• Keep the Ministry for the Department for Levelling Up with a Cabinet level Secretary of State.
• Reform the Treasury Green Book evaluation process which currently discriminates against Towns and rural areas, which largely impacts the North of England.
• Commit to work with Mayors around the country to seek a furthering and deepening of English Devolution.
• Commit to the full construction of Northern Powerhouse Rail.
• In areas with no metro mayors devolve tax powers away from Whitehall.

While Mr Sunak is more popular with swing voters than his rival, both are unpopular with the overall public.

Among all Britons Ms Truss has a favourability score of -32 while Mr Sunak sits at -30.