In the race for the new leader of the ruling Conservative Party and the next prime minister of Great Britain, according to the latest poll, the head of diplomacy, Liz Truss, has maintained an advantage over the former finance minister Rishi Sunak, but the election is more uncertain than thought, according to the assessment of the world media as reported by Radio Free Europe (RSE).
A poll conducted among members of the Conservative Party showed that Trass, who is the favorite to succeed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has a smaller advantage over Sunak than before, according to Reuters.
Tras has the support of 48 percent of the members of the Conservative Party, while the former finance minister has 43 percent in a poll conducted by the Italian company Tehne among 807 people from July 19 to 27.
That, as Reuters points out, indicates a much tighter race compared to the previous poll among members of the Conservative Party.
Sunak and Tras are competing for Tory votes to choose the next Conservative leader and new prime minister.
The latest poll contradicts a previous YouGov survey in the early stages of the Tory leader election which suggested Trass had a 24 percent lead over Sunak, the Times points out.
Sources in the election headquarters of Sunak claim that the change reflects the feedback they are receiving in the campaign.
On the other hand, sources in the Tras headquarters point out that on most issues, the head of diplomacy is far ahead of the former finance minister, both among party members and among voters who supported the Tories in the last elections in 2019.
More than 60 percent of Conservative Party members said Trass had better ideas about taxes than Sunak, and they also supported her plans on inflation and immigration. However, according to the Times, respondents said that Sunak had better proposals for education, climate change and energy.
When asked which "trait" best suits Tras and Sunak, 63 percent said the foreign minister has a "decent personal life," compared to 26 percent who said the same for the former finance minister. Tras also fares better in the survey in terms of understanding the problems of ordinary people, 60 percent versus 34 percent, and in honesty, 55 percent versus 38 percent.
However, Sunak has an advantage in the respondents' opinion on "qualification" for the prime minister - 52 percent against 42 percent, as well as on the issue of authoritativeness, 51 percent against 43 percent.
While among Tory voters from 2019, the survey showed that Tras has an advantage over Sunak with 47 to 41 percent, among voters as a whole the advantage is smaller, 36 percent against 33 percent, with 31 percent undecided.
Professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and one of Britain's leading pollsters, John Curtis, said on August 1 that he was not sure the race was over.
"We have to bear in mind that since Tory MPs decided that this is a contest between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, we have had one, I repeat one, poll of people who will actually vote," he told GB News.
At the current stage of the election, it seems that Tras has gained momentum, but there are indications that the race with Sunak could be more difficult than expected, the Observer assesses in the analysis.
The competition for the new leader of the Tories was first described as the most open race in recent times, then with a large advantage Tras in the previous poll, the election was considered almost over, but now, writes the sister weekly of the Guardian, it seems that those claims are premature. The most striking indication that Tras could be a sure winner was when ambitious members of the government, who want to keep their posts, gave their support to the foreign minister at the last minute, waiting to be sure that they would choose a winner.
Regardless of the polls, one thing is going heavily in Tras's favor - she has gained momentum with a lot of support from cabinet members including Defense Minister Ben Wallace and Finance Minister Nadhim Zahavi who, according to the Observer, think they can see which way the wind is blowing. .
On the other hand, Sunak once had such momentum when he got the support of Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and former Minister of Health and Foreign Affairs Jeremy Hunt who thought they had picked a winning horse.
According to the Observer, this could be a sign to everyone that in the race for the leader of the conservatives, the wind can still change direction very quickly.
Trass received a final boost in the race to become the next British leader as her candidacy was endorsed by her former rival, Trade Secretary Penny Mordont, the BBC points out.
Mordont dropped out of the race after finishing in third place behind Tras and Sunak in the previous stage of the election.
The trade minister expressed her support for Tras on August 1, calling her a "candidate of hope". It happened on the day that around 160.000 members of the Conservative Party started receiving their ballots. The result of the vote should be announced on September 5, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves office.
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