Rishi bounce in poll but Starmer still on course for huge win

Rishi Sunak has given the Tories a boost after taking the keys to Downing Street, new polling suggests. The weekly tracker poll by Techne UK for Express.co.uk shows Labour’s lead over the Conservatives is down from 31 points to 24.The poll showed support for Sir Keir’s Starmer’s party stands at 50 percent, a drop of three points from last week.Meanwhile, the Conservatives are up four points with new PM Mr Sunak at the helm from 22 percent a week ago to 26 percent today.The poll of 1,624 voters, carried out from October 26 to 27, is a boost for the Tories after weeks of trailing behind Labour, who surged to record leads during Liz Truss’s short-lived premiership.But it suggests the party is still facing a general election wipeout as things stand.According to the Electoral Calculus prediction website, Labour would have a thumping majority of 312 while the Tories would be decimated and left with just 75 seats. New PM Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Image: GETTY)Michela Morizzo, chief executive of Techne UK, said: “A small sign of trust but as we have seen before … now trust lasts a short period of time.”The polling data showed that Leave voters were almost equally split between the Tories and Labour at 39 percent and 38 percent respectively despite Sir Keir previously backing a second referendum.However, Remainers were far more likely to opt for Labour with 56 percent compared to 18 percent for the Conservatives.Labour also beat the Tories in every age group. Of 2019 Tory voters, when Boris Johnson led the party to a landslide, 27 percent would now choose Sir Keir’s party, while 60 percent would stick with the Conservatives under Mr Sunak. Mr Sunak became Tory leader on Monday and PM on Tuesday (Image: GETTY)The polling comes after Mr Sunak became Tory leader on Monday following Liz Truss’s resignation in the wake of economic chaos sparked by her mini-budget.The 42-year-old was unveiled as the Conservatives’ new leader without a ballot of the party’s members after his rivals Mr Johnson and Penny Mordaunt pulled out.Mr Johnson, who led the Tories to their biggest election victory in decades just three years ago, sent speculation of a comeback into overdrive just seven weeks after leaving Downing Street when he raced back from a family holiday in the Caribbean following Ms Truss’s resignation.But late on Sunday he admitted he could not unite his warring party despite reaching the threshold of 100 nominations from fellow MPs.And Commons leader Ms Mordaunt dropped out at the 11th hour on Monday after failing to secure the required backing from Tory MPs. The pair clashed in PMQs in the Commons on Wednesday (Image: PA)In his first speech as PM outside Downing Street on Tuesday, Mr Sunak said he was in place to “fix” the “mistakes” made by his predecessor Ms Truss.He said: “I will unite our country, not with words, but with action. Trust is earned and I will earn yours.”He faces a daunting in-tray including getting the public finances back on track and the cost of living crisis.Mr Sunak clashed with Sir Keir during the pair’s first Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons on Wednesday.The Prime Minister received a raucous reception from Tory MPs when he landed blows on the Labour leader, who he said “rarely leaves North London”, tried to stop Brexit and backed Jeremy Corbyn.