Majority of Conservative Party members say Liz Truss should resign, poll finds

A majority of Conservative Party members think that Liz Truss should resign after just six weeks as Prime Minister, according to new polling.

The YouGov research, published this afternoon, found that 55% of the Tory membership feel that the Prime Minister should step down while just 38% reported that they want her to remain in Downing Street. 39% of those who backed her for leader also said they want her to resign.

83% of those surveyed said the Prime Minister is doing badly in the role, including 55% who specified that she is doing “very badly” and 72% of those who voted for her to become the Conservative Party leader over the summer.

According to the poll, if the Conservative leadership vote were held again – with members offered a choice between Truss and Rishi Sunak again – 55% said they would vote for the former Chancellor while just 25% said they would back Truss.

The snap poll also recorded significant report among Conservative members for a return of her predecessor, Boris Johnson. Asked who should replace Truss if she were to resign in the next few weeks, 32% backed the recently ousted Prime Minister.

Truss’ final Tory leadership rival Sunak was the next most popular for the top job, receiving the backing of 23% of members, followed by Johnson-ally Ben Wallace on 10%, Penny Mordaunt on 9%, Kemi Badenoch on 8% and Jeremy Hunt on 7%.

Hunt was appointed as Chancellor last Friday following the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng after just 38 days in the role. In an emergency statement on Monday after taking up the position, Hunt confirmed that the government would be abandoning “almost all” the tax measures announced in the controversial ‘mini-Budget’.

Following the statement, Labour tabled an urgent question calling on the Truss to make a statement on the economy in parliament. The Prime Minister did not attend, sending former Conservative leadership rival Mordaunt in her place.

Mordaunt apologised on behalf of Truss for her absence this afternoon, saying that “the PM is detained on urgent business”. Truss appeared in the chamber later in the afternoon on Monday but made no statement. Keir Starmer told MPs: “I guess under this Tory government, everybody gets to be Prime Minister for 15 minutes”.

The Labour leader called for a general election following Kwarteng’s sacking, declaring that his party is “confident” and “preparing to go into power” while the Conservatives are “completely exhausted” and “clapped out”.

Polling by Redfield and Wilton Strategies recorded a 36-point lead for Labour over the Conservatives on Monday. 56% reported that they would back Starmer’s party in the event of a general election while 20% said they would vote for the Tories.

Conservative backbenchers have been openly discussing replacing Truss. The Tory Party rules mean that normally only one leadership contest can be held in any 12-month period, however members of the 1922 committee – which determines the rules – reportedly met to discuss changing them over the weekend.