On Friday, Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat, Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch faced each other for the first time on Channel 4. Opinium conducted a quick poll after the debate, with 1,000 voters responding.
When asked “who performed best” in the debate, 36 percent of the 1,000 voters pointed to Tugendhat, who is 12 points ahead of Rishi Sunak, by 25 percent.
Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch are equal, with 12 percent each,
Liz Truss finished last among the voters, with just 6 percent saying she was the best performer.
Nine percent said “none of them” or “don’t know”.
In another blow, 61 percent said Mr Tugendhat would be a good prime minister, with 31 percent disagreeing and 8 percent unsure.
Mr Sunak came in second with 51 percent and 45 percent respectively, and 4 percent unsure,
Ms Mordaunt saw 44 percent in favor and 49 percent against, with seven percent unsure, while Ms Badenoch saw 41 percent and 49 percent and 10 percent answer “don’t know” respectively.
Mrs. Truss was the worst performer, with only 29 percent saying she would be a good prime minister, and 65 percent recently said she would be a bad leader. 6 percent were unsure.
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More polls from JL Partners saw Ms Truss finish second to Ms Mordaunt in terms of 2019 conservative voter support, behind Mr Sunak.
With 39 percent of Tory voters in 2019, Ms Truss says she would make a good prime minister, according to the poll.
In the poll of all voters, Ms Truss came in second to Ms Badenoch, with just 22 percent saying she would make a good prime minister.
James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, said of the results: “Truss has high negative ratings among the general public, but is doing better among conservative voters in 2019 – but it’s clearly a high-risk gamble.”
Supporter of Mrs Truss has attacked Mrs Mourdaunt, with Lord David Frost saying the MP for Portsmouth North “didn’t get the hang of the details”
He told Talk TV that Ms Mourdaunt “didn’t master the necessary details” and was “absent on parade” during the Brexit negotiations with the EU.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who also supports Ms Truss, also told LBC about Ms Mourdaunt: “We can’t just pick anyone because they might look better than others for a short period of time.”
Ms Mordaunt told Sky News the reason she “didn’t have a profile” was that she was “just working” as a minister ahead of the Tory leadership contest.