Keir Starmer “wipes the floor” with the five remaining Conservative leadership contenders on the measure of who would be the best prime minister, new research has found.
Savanta polling, conducted between 30th August and 1st September, asked voters who would make the best premier out of Starmer and each of the five Tory leadership hopefuls.
The prime minister bested each head-to-head contest, with shadow home secretary James Cleverly coming the closet to the Labour leader.
Cleverly scored 23 per cent in his match-up versus Starmer, compared to 47 per cent who picked the prime minister and 30 per cent who responded “Don’t Know”.
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Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch, the hopefuls widely considered as the two main frontrunners in the race, both scored only 20 per cent in their individual match ups versus Starmer. The PM scored 48 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.
Mel Stride, the shadow work and pensions secretary, scored worst among the public on the “best PM” measure, with only 16 per cent of those polled saying he would make a better premier than Starmer.
48 per cent picked Starmer with 36 per cent responding “Don’t Know”.
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The full results, as reported by The Daily Telegraph on Monday morning, were as follows:
- James Cleverly, 23 per cent; Keir Starmer, 47 per cent; Don’t Know, 30 per cent.
- Tom Tugendhat, 22 per cent; Starmer, 47 per cent; Don’t Know, 31 per cent.
- Robert Jenrick, 20 per cent; Starmer, 48 per cent; Don’t Know, 32 per cent.
- Kemi Badenoch, 20 per cent; Starmer, 49 per cent; Don’t Know, 32 per cent.
- Mel Stride, 16 per cent; Starmer, 48 per cent; Don’t Know, 36 per cent.
Commenting on the findings, political research director at Savanta Chris Hopkins said: “Even accounting for incumbent prime ministers having a natural advantage on this metric, this research shows that Starmer wipes the floor with all the prospective Conservative leaders on who the public thinks would make the best PM.
“Our research continues to suggest there isn’t an obvious Conservative leader who could win an election in the public’s eye — yet. It also serves as a reminder that despite a challenging few weeks for Labour, they’re only really at risk when the Conservatives get their act together. That certainly won’t happen until a new leader is in place, and isn’t a given even then.”
Last Wednesday, former home secretary Priti Patel became the first Conservative MP to be eliminated from the party’s leadership contest, as the field was reduced from six to five.
Patel only won 14 votes from 121 Conservative MPs.
The remaining candidates for Conservative leader scored:
- James Cleverly – 21
- Robert Jenrick – 28
- Tom Tugendhat – 17
- Mel Stride – 16
- Kemi Badenoch – 22
These five surviving candidates will now face a second round vote on Tuesday, with Conservative MPs tasked with reducing the field down to four before the party’s annual conference begins later this month.
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