A new poll reveals widespread public indifference to the Conservative leadership race, proving most voters don’t care who succeeds Rishi Sunak. Here’s the full story.
An Unenviable Task
Won’t someone think of the poor Conservative Party? Following the worst election results in the party’s history, the UK’s former “natural party of government” is in the midst of a leadership election to try to find whatever next unfortunate will have the unenviable task of uniting a party increasingly divided by bitter factionalism since the Brexit referendum in 2016.
Dysfunctional Family
Unfortunately for the Conservative Party, it appears that the public has noticed that the Conservatives no longer resemble a functional party, appearing more like an increasingly dysfunctional family.
Stunning Lack of Interest
Recent polling by Ipsos has revealed a stunning lack of interest in the race to replace former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party’s top job. A surprisingly large majority expressed extreme indifference to the whole process.
Public Apathy
The Ipsos poll surveyed over 1,000 adults across the country and found a whopping 62% of respondents said they could care less over who would become the next Conservative leader.
Apathy Across the Spectrum
This level of extreme apathy extends across the political spectrum, even affecting Conservative voters, of whom 36% stated that they did not particularly care who would replace Sunak.
High Public Apathy
Trinh Tu, director of the polling company Ipsos, stated, “This new poll suggests a high level of public apathy about the Conservative leadership race. James Cleverly, Priti Patel, and Tom Tugendhat emerge as early front runners, with former Home Secretary Priti Patel appearing to be the most divisive figure. However, a significant portion of Britons are unfamiliar with the main candidates and say they do not care very much about who will emerge as the winner.”
Lack of Recognition
As if public apathy over the Conservative leadership race were not bad enough, the poll revealed that, out of the six candidates tasked with the daunting task of rebuilding the reputation of the Conservative Party, all of them struggle with an apparent lack of recognition from the public.
Unfamiliar Faces
Although most of the six contenders—James Cleverly, Dame Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, and Mel Stride—have held important government roles, the majority of the British public remains unfamiliar with them and is similarly unsure of what they stand for.
Patel: The Most Recognised
Only 45% of those surveyed indicated that they knew a “great deal” or a “fair amount” about disgraced former Home Secretary Priti Patel, the most recognised candidate. In comparison, 26% were familiar with Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly, and just 24% knew about Shadow Housing Secretary Kemi Badenoch.
Candidates Struggle for Awareness
Incredibly, the remaining candidates, including Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick, and Mel Stride, garnered even lower public awareness, with less than one in five voters knowing much about them.
Disheartening Perceptions
Similarly disheartening for the six leadership contenders was the percentage of the public who thought each would do a good job as the leader.
Patel: A Polarising Figure
Despite being one of the more recognised candidates, Priti Patel appears to be the most polarising, with 44% of respondents believing that Patel would do a lousy job as the next Conservative leader.
Others Fared Better
This figure is significantly higher than the negative perceptions of the other candidates, with half as many, 22%, thinking Kemi Badenoch would do a bad job, while 20% said the same about James Cleverly.
Lower Negative Sentiment
Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat received lower levels of negative sentiment, with 15% and 11%, respectively, expressing doubts about their capabilities. While Mel Stride had the lowest support among the candidates, he also had the lowest percentage of respondents, 9%, who believed he would perform poorly.
Truss’s Damaging Endorsement
In a sign of just how far the Conservatives have fallen in terms of public perception of the party, one of the poll’s most striking findings was that a remarkable 65% of respondents indicated that an endorsement by former Prime Minister Liz Truss would harm their campaign.
Divisive Figures
This shows just how divisive figures like Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister who somehow managed to crash the economy before her 49 days in power were up, and the Conservative brand, more generally, remain.
“Stuart Lewis” Effect
The worst sign for the Conservatives was that, when the public was asked about who would do the best job as Conservative leader, 9%, the same percentage that Mel Stride received, picked a made-up politician, added by Ipsos, “Stuart Lewis.”
Hard to Do Worse
However, considering how poorly the Conservatives performed in the recent election, and how their lack of cohesion as a party since their defeat has allowed Labour to reframe the Tory’s time in office, it would be hard for “Stewart Lewis” to do a worse job.
Insurmountable Apathy
The recent polling by Ipsos shows seemingly insurmountable levels of apathy over the Conservative leadership contest, which the Conservative Party will have to fight hard to overcome.
A Thankless Task
However, with no candidate yet breaking through, it remains to be seen which, if any, will have the political will to carry off this thankless task and exactly how long it might take before the Conservative Party finds itself anywhere near the realm of political respectability.
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