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BACKING BORIS?

Twice as many Tories want Boris Johnson for PM says fresh poll – but the public like Jeremy Hunt more

TWICE as many Tories want Boris to be the next PM over Jeremy Hunt - but the public are warming to the Foreign Secretary.

A poll of Conservative voters shows support for Boris soaring ahead of his rival, the Mail on Sunday revealed.

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 More Tories prefer Boris to be the next leader, but the public want Hunt to be PM
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More Tories prefer Boris to be the next leader, but the public want Hunt to be PMCredit: Reuters

47 per cent of Tory voters said Boris was best suited to run the country, compared 29 per cent who thought Mr Hunt was.

And most of the public think the Brexiteer is best placed to win, with 67 per cent thinking he's got it in the bag.

Eight per cent said Mr Hunt would pip him to the post, polling from Lord Ashcroft revealed.

One person in a focus group said: "Jeremy Hunt is your ready-made, off-the-shelf Prime Minister, whereas Boris is interesting, isn’t he?

"Whatever else he is, something is going to happen."

But another warned: "Boris could be the best or worst PM we’ve ever had."

This is the third poll in the last fortnight which has put Boris far ahead of Mr Hunt, making him incredibly likely to enter Downing Street in just a few weeks.

However, the polls also showed that the public would prefer Mr Hunt to be PM, with 34 per cent picking him, compared to Boris' 27 per cent.

Boris was the better person to invite around for dinner though, the British public said, winning by a margin of 28 to 19.

Only nine percent would trust Boris with a huge, important secret, compared to 32 per cent who would confide in Hunt.

Even Tory leave voters would rather trust Hunt to babysit their kids, lend money to, or drive their daughter home from a party.

 Most Tories think Boris is set to win the leadership race
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Most Tories think Boris is set to win the leadership raceCredit: Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
 Boris would be better at a dinner party though, others thought
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Boris would be better at a dinner party though, others thoughtCredit: EPA

Tories are getting their ballots now and thousands are estimated to have already made up their minds and sent them back.

This week the pair go head-to-head in their first televised debate on ITV.

Boris Johnson says he’d be much richer if didn’t become PM - but will make ‘sacrifice’ for Britain


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