UK PM race: Why Rishi Sunak? Why Liz Truss? Voters answer in latest poll

In the two-way race for the post of UK Prime Minister, Indian-origin British politician Rishi Sunak has been trailing the current Foreign secretary Liz Truss. As per the latest exclusive poll of Conservative party members for The Observer, Truss has gained a handsome 22-point lead over Sunak.

The September 2 deadline for voting is less than three weeks away. As per a survey of 570 Conservative party members by Opinium, Truss has the support of 61 percent, 22 percent more than Sunak who landed at 39 percent support.

However, some other polls suggest that former Finance Minister Sunak may have closed the gap. Pressure has been mounting on Truss over her stance on energy bills, a policy she describes as "handouts" to help people. She has also been under fire for a U-turn with regard to increasing pay for public sector workers in the south-east of England and outside London.

Why Rishi Sunak?

For those who back Sunak, the top reason is they believe he would be better at managin the economy. 22 percent of Sunak’s backers feel so. Meanwhile, 10 percent see him as the most competent or intelligent candidate to replace Boris Johnson.

Why Liz Truss?

The biggest reason that party members are backing Truss appears to be dislike for Sunak. This is the point of view of 14 percent of her supporters, the survey suggested. Similar number of voters believe that she is more honest and trustworthy than Sunak. 10 percent are behind Truss for her loyalty to Johnson while 2 percent are supporting her on the basis of razor ethnicity. 

The latest numbers make Truss the favourite over Sunak.

"From the moment we knew the final two candidates, it has been clear that Truss has had all the momentum, and our latest poll sets out just how large her lead among the party members has become," Chris Curtis of Opinium was quoted as saying.

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(With inputs from agencies)