Tom Tugendhat is the most popular Conservative leadership candidate among the wider public (net favourability -4) and 2024 Conservative voters (+32), according to new research from Savanta for Conservative Party Conference. One quarter (27%) say they Don’t Know.
Savanta’s findings at a crucial moment in the contest suggests there is “still a huge opportunity for all candidates to define themselves with a largely uninterested public”, with high levels of Don’t Knows for those vying to be next Conservative leader.
Robert Jenrick (-7) is the second most popular candidate among the public, alongside James Cleverly (-8), the most well-known candidate among public with the lowest proportion of Don’t Know’s (21%). Kemi Badenoch (-11) is the least popular, in research taken before her controversial comments about maternity pay.
Cleverly (+29) is second most popular among Conservative voters, followed by Jenrick (+24) and Badenoch (+23).
Tugendhat (-7) is also most popular among Liberal Democrat voters. Cleverly (-14) is second most popular, with Jenrick (-20) and Badenoch (-22) significantly lower.
Among Reform UK voters, Tugendhat (-8) and Jenrick (-9) have the highest favourability ratings, followed by Badenoch (-14) and with Cleverly last (-20).
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta said, “What should be a downbeat affair given the scale of their election defeat, Conservative conference in Birmingham has been energised by a four-day hustings between the candidates vying to be the party’s next leader. Tugendhat looks to be most popular among the public, but it’s close with a high proportion of Don’t Knows.”
“As with all of these contests, the campaigns will mostly be pitching to party members, MPs and supportive journalists, but there is still a huge opportunity for all candidates to define themselves with a largely uninterested public.”
“And in the end, it is the wider public that one of these candidates will need to win over if they wish to reverse the historically poor election result suffered by the Conservatives just three months ago.”
