Rishi Sunak faces crisis as new poll shows Tories have lost half their support

Half (49 percent) of Conservative supporters from the 2019 election have abandoned the party as Rishi Sunak still faces a 20-point deficit behind Labour, this week’s Techne UK tracker poll has revealed. According to the findings of those who have decided how they will vote, the Tories actually gained a point up to 26 percent but so did Labour up to 46 percent in the weekly tracker poll. The losers were Reform UK down one to seven percent and the Greens down one to five percent. The Lib Dems stayed the same on 10 percent. But among the whole research group of 1,631 voters, including those who will not vote or have not decided, just 17 percent overall would support the Conservatives and only 51 percent of their voters in 2019 when Boris Johnson led them to an 80-seat majority. The findings come at a difficult moment for Mr Sunak as he spends his first family holiday for three years in California reflecting on how he can turn things around. Labour are heading for a record majority (Image: ELECTORAL CALCULUS) If these results were to play out in a general election Labour would, according to Electoral Calculus, have a majority of 306 while the Tories would be reduced to a record low 103 seats. Meanwhile, Mr Sunak is expected to have a reshuffle to reboot his Cabinet after the summer recess and start the fight back. But while Chief Treasury Secretary John Glen is the favourite to take over from Ben Wallace who is stepping down as Defence Secretary the latest briefing has suggested changes will be “minimal” despite demands for an overhaul by desperate Tory MPs. In particular, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who had looked on the verge of being replaced, is now believed to be safe despite the ConHome poll of Conservative members giving him a net rating of minus 11.2 percent with anger over his tax rises and support for interest rate hikes hitting mortgage holders. The same survey also suggests that Tory members are now considering who to replace Mr Sunak with. Kemi Badenoch is currently the highest ranked possible leadership successor among party members (Image: Getty) ConHome shows Sunak is still mid table in the rankings (Image: ConHome) Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has emerged as an early frontrunner after her trade deal successes with the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with a net rating of +57.9 percent. She is closely followed by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on +54.7 percent and Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt on +48.8 percent. Home Secretary Suella Braverman comes in at seventh on a healthy 32.2 percent. All of them are above Mr Sunak at 20.7 percent. The polling again reveals that Labour under Sir Keir Starmer maintains its lead in every age group and economic category with the Tories only ahead among 2019 Conservative voters and 2016 Leave voters. Some Tory MPs have discussed triggering another leadership vote of confidence. Michela Morizzo, chief executive of Techne UK blamed interest rate rises this week on the continued problems for Mr Sunak. She said: “Things continue to remain difficult for Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Government. In a week when the Bank of England has been forced once again to raise interest rates – the 14th interest rate rise in a row now giving a rate of 5.25 percent – our regular Techne Tracker of Westminster voting intentions continues to see Labour have a dominant 20 point lead over the Conservatives. “With more and more Britons feeling the cost of living crisis in their pockets I have no doubt in the short to medium term things will remain difficult for the Conservative Party. “However, if they are able to start to bring inflation down this might help their position as we move towards the end of the year.”