Half of voters do not think Truss can unite country as Prime Minister

Half of voters do not think Liz Truss can unite the country following her election as Tory leader, a poll has revealed, with six in ten saying the new Prime Minister should call a general election by the end of the year.

The survey, conducted by Savanta ComRes, found that 51% of respondents think that Truss cannot unite the public. Only 18% said the new Tory leader could unite the country – including just 29% of Conservative voters.

It was announced this afternoon that Truss had been selected by the Tory Party membership to be the party’s next leader over rival Rishi Sunak. The current Foreign Secretary secured 81,326 votes while the former Chancellor received 60,399.

Reacting to the result, Angela Rayner said: “All Britain has to show for the last 12 years of Tory government is low wages, high prices and a Tory cost-of-living crisis. Liz Truss offers more of the same old failed Tory ideas that got us in this mess.

“During this leadership campaign, she had more to say about cutting tax for huge corporations than what she is going to do about the cost-of-living crisis affecting every household.

“She must now stop delaying and get on the side of working people, back Labour’s plan to ensure no one would pay a penny more on their energy bill this winter, and fully fund it with a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.”

The survey by Savanta ComRes was conducted before the result of the leadership contest was announced. The polling company interviewed 2,301 adults online between September 2nd and 4th.

Only 18% of respondents said they view Truss favourably, while 44% reported that they have an unfavourable opinion of the new Prime Minister.

Six in ten of those surveyed said Truss should call a general election by the end of the year, while 27% were opposed to an election taking place so soon. Truss appeared to rule out an early election in her acceptance speech today, declaring: “We will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.”

Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News on Sunday that the Labour Party is “absolutely” on an election footing and that he wants to see the government “swept away as soon as possible”.

“We in Labour want to see that general election happen as soon as we possibly can so we can get on with the job of rebuilding our country’s economy and standing beside people in this acute cost-of-living crisis,” the Shadow International Trade Secretary added.

The poll published today revealed that only one in ten voters think the Conservative Party is united – including just 15% of those who voted Tory at the last election. Savanta ComRes director of political research Chris Hopkins said the findings show the “gargantuan task” awaiting the new Prime Minister.

“Not only does she have one of the most troublesome in-trays that any incoming PM has had post-war, healing the wounds caused by a fierce leadership election and uniting her party at the same time is going to take some doing,” he added.