Grassroots Tories say Boris is more popular than PM, poll shows

Grassroots Tories say Boris Johnson is more popular than Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and Liz Truss, poll shows

  • Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was the most popular due to his Ukraine support
  • The current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak finished five votes behind Mr Johnson
  • The survey panel of more than 3.3k party members put Liz Truss on 31 votes

Boris Johnson is more popular with Tory members than Rishi Sunak, his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and his predecessor Liz Truss, a poll has shown.

The former prime minister trailed only mainstay Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Home Secretary Suella Braverman in a Conservative Home survey released yesterday.

Mr Wallace, who has served under three prime ministers this year, was far and above the most popular Tory in the wake of his support of Ukraine.

The poll shows Mr Sunak, who finished five votes behind Mr Johnson to come in fifth place, may have some way to go to win over the grassroots. Having lost out to Ms Truss in the summer’s leadership contest, he entered No 10 after a second contest in October that saw MPs rather than party members choose him.

The poll shows Mr Sunak, who finished five votes behind Mr Johnson to come in fifth place, may have some way to go to win over the grassroots

Mr Sunak regularly topped Cabinet approval polls on the ConservativeHome website during his time as Chancellor, especially during the early stages of the pandemic

The survey panel of more than 3,300 party members put Mr Hunt on 35 votes, five behind the Prime Minister, and Ms Truss on 31.

Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt was on 27 and former Business Secretary and influential backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg earned 24.

Mr Sunak regularly topped Cabinet approval polls on the ConservativeHome website during his time as Chancellor, especially during the early stages of the pandemic.

He fell, however, after the leadership contest and then again following the Autumn Statement.

Mr Johnson, who will stand at the next general election and enjoys enduring popularity among members, and Mr Rees-Mogg both ranked highly in a separate contest for Backbencher of the Year, with the outspoken Lee Anderson coming top.

Former Tory MP and ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman said: ‘It’s a tribute of a kind to the topsy-turvy nature of 2022 that Johnson, Truss and Sunak were all eligible to be both minister of the year and backbencher of the year.’

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