Rishi Sunak And Liz Truss Go To Battle With One One other As Tory Management Race Turns Ugly

Liz Truss has prolonged her lead over Rishi Sunak amongst Tory members, in accordance with a brand new ballot, after the international secretary U-turned on a plan to hyperlink public sector pay to regional dwelling prices.

On Monday night time, the management race frontrunner mentioned she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards as an alternative of nationwide ones to set salaries for civil servants, reflecting the place they lived.

However specialists warned that to achieve the sum, the plan must department out additional than authorities departments, with the likes of lecturers, nurses, and cops additionally receiving decrease pay than staff within the South.

It led to outrage from Conservative MPs, and by lunchtime at the moment – lower than 24 hours later – Ms Truss’ crew had launched an announcement saying the policy would not be taken forward.

Politics Hub: Sunak allies attack Truss public sector pay plan

An announcement insisted “present ranges of public sector pay will completely be maintained”, including: “Our hard-working frontline employees are the bedrock of society and there can be no proposal taken ahead on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector staff.”

Group Truss additionally claimed there had been a “wilful misrepresentation” of the coverage, however former Tory whip Mark Harper mentioned they need to “cease blaming journalists” for reporting on the main points in her personal press launch.

A Group Sunak supply pointed to comparisons made between Ms Truss and former PM Margaret Thatcher, twisting her well-known phrase for at the moment’s occasions: “The girl is for turning.”

Whereas the influential Tory mayor of the Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, advised reporters the coverage can be “a sure-fire method to lose the following normal election”.

The primary main error from Ms Truss’s marketing campaign got here as Mr Sunak battles to make up floor throughout what’s a key week within the contest for the keys to No 10.

However the day ended on a excessive for Ms Truss following the publication of the newest YouGov ballot of Conservative members, which exhibits she has prolonged her lead over Mr Sunak to 34 factors within the Tory management race.

The survey, carried out for The Occasions, finds that 60% of occasion members are actually saying they’ll vote for the international secretary to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.

That is in comparison with simply 26% for former chancellor Mr Sunak.

Evaluation: Sunak supporters will concern the sport is up

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

After a day wherein Liz Truss’ Tory management marketing campaign took a battering over her regional pay blunder, immediately it is Rishi Sunak who’s on the ropes, in accordance with a shock new ballot.

What’s stunning isn’t just the huge lead the YouGov ballot suggests Ms Truss now has over Mr Sunak, however the declare that just about 9 in 10 Tory members have already made up their thoughts.

At 26%, the extent of help for the previous chancellor is dismal, and the 60% predicted to again the international secretary will calm nerves in her camp after her embarrassing public sector pay U-turn.

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Though it is just one ballot and opinion polls are only a snapshot, YouGov’s findings counsel Ms Truss may very well be heading for a victory as decisive as Boris Johnson’s over Jeremy Hunt in 2019.

Then Mr Johnson polled 66.4% of the votes of occasion members and Mr Hunt 33.6%, a profitable margin of practically 33%, just like the 34-point lead YouGov now offers Ms Truss over Mr Sunak.

The YouGov ballot additionally suggests solely 14% of occasion members are undecided or say they will not vote, and it fiercely contradicts an earlier non-public ballot suggesting the hole had narrowed to simply 5 factors.

YouGov’s final ballot earlier than this one was carried after the 5 rounds of voting by MPs, when Penny Mordaunt was eradicated, and urged a 24-point lead for Ms Truss over Mr Sunak, by 62%-38%.

The obvious widening of the hole, within the week occasion members obtain their poll papers, will delight Truss supporters – and, little question, these of the ousted Mr Johnson who wish to see Mr Sunak crushed.

However it’s prone to plunge the Sunak camp into gloom, panic and despair and unfold fears in his crew that the sport is up for the previous chancellor, even earlier than most Tory members solid their vote.

The ballot, carried out during the last 5 days, exhibits that Ms Truss is now forward of Mr Sunak amongst all age teams, throughout completely different elements of the nation and with women and men.

The one class the place he beats Ms Truss is amongst Tory Stay supporters.

The YouGov survey revealed at the moment additionally discovered that just about 9 in 10 Conservative members have now made up their minds how they’ll vote forward of poll papers going out this week.

However it’s going to concern each potential subsequent leaders that greater than 50% of occasion members believed that whoever was elected to succeed Mr Johnson would lose the occasion its majority on the subsequent election.

Simply 19% of members thought Mr Sunak may lead the Tories to victory, whereas 39% thought Ms Truss might see off a problem from Labour.

Because the management race continues to warmth up, candidates Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will as soon as once more face the cameras this week on Sky Information.

Happening on Thursday Four August at 8pm at Sky Studios in west London, The Battle for Quantity 10, will see the candidates participate in back-to-back questioning from the dwell studio viewers made up of Conservative Occasion members who stay largely undecided on who to vote for.

It will then be adopted by an in-depth interview with Kay Burley.

The programme can be broadcast dwell for 90 minutes and free of charge on Sky Information channel 501, on Freeview 233, on Sky Showcase channel 106, and throughout Sky Information’ digital channels.