Penny Mordaunt’s bid to become Prime Minister has received a major boost after Red Wall voters said the bookies’ favorite is best placed to beat Keir Starmer at a future general election.
i was given exclusive access to a focus group of working-class voters, conducted by Public First, which described Ms Mordaunt as the strongest candidate in the Tory leadership race and the favorite to beat Labour.
The group, which consisted of five first-time Tory voters from Wolverhampton, gave a damning assessment of the former defense secretary’s closest rivals, calling Rishi Sunak ‘out of touch’ and Liz Truss a ‘John Major character, a gray type “.
It is the first time a survey has been carried out during the Tory leadership race to see how the leading candidates would fare against Sir Keir in an election.
When the group was shown a video of the Labor leader, two of the five could not name him but recognized him. When asked to describe him, they said he was “closer to the common people” and would “stand up for the working class”, but overall said he was “a bit boring”.
Two of the five said they were likely to vote Labor at the next election and the rest the Tories, but when asked about different Tory candidates as leader, the mood changed.
After seeing a clip of Mr Sunak’s leadership campaign launch, every member of the group could name him, but despite the immediate recognition they were hostile to the former chancellor.
One member of the group, a mother-of-two who works for NatWest, said: “I have no faith in him.”
Others were quick to highlight his wealth, describing him as “out of touch”, “too slippery” and simply “cut”, although there was praise for his business acumen.
Asked who they would vote for between Mr Sunak and Sir Keir as prime minister, three of the group said they preferred the incumbent Labor leader and only one would vote for the Tory front-runner.
But opinions changed when they came across a video of Ms Mordaunt. While only one of the group could name the new favorite in the leadership race, when they heard her speak, they grew more attached to her than Mr. Sunak.
“When she speaks, it sounds like it comes a little more from the heart, especially compared to Rishi. He sounds a little too smooth and Starmer sounds too robotic,” said one of the group, a quality engineer for a manufacturer.
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Compared to Mrs Truss, the group agreed that Mrs Mordaunt “had more going for her”. “She has more energy in her,” said one member, a cleaner and carer. “Liz Truss just seems a little cold.”
Asked who they would vote for between Ms Mordaunt and Sir Keir, three of the group said they would vote Conservative, another was undecided and only one would vote Labour.
The foreign minister performed worst in the eyes of the focus group. After being shown Mrs Truss’ campaign video, two could name her and they all recognized her, but the consensus on her as a politician was brutal.
“She looks mean,” said the engineer. “She seems unreliable, she just looks too much like a politician – even more than Rishi.”
Another, who runs his own mobile disco company, said: “She’s a bit like [John Major] Spitting doll. There is so much gray around her features. She looks like a Theresa May type character.
“She wouldn’t be one of my top ones to vote for after watching that video,” the bank official said.
Even when told about her Brexit credentials, the group of Leave voters said it didn’t matter. “I just think Brexit is one big mess,” said the mother-of-two, who works at a car dealership.
Asked who they would vote for between Mrs Truss and Sir Keir, three of the group said they would vote Labour, one would vote Tory and a third said they would be reluctant to back the Conservatives led by Mrs Truss.
Crucially, one of the group, who said he would vote Labour, added: “If you put Penny in there I would change my mind completely.”
Another added: “I’d give Penny a chance over Truss.”
“We need fresh blood. Let a female try it and see how she does.
Ed Dorrell, director of Public First, a research and policy consultancy, and moderator of the focus group, said voters often liked Sir Keir but were “not in awe of him”.
“As it stands now, he is cursed by ties to all the other front-line politicians. This is probably the secret of Mordaunt’s current popularity. Voters see her as out of touch with the ruling class at Westminster. Many have never heard of her but love her jib cut – and think she could be a breath of fresh air,” Mr Dorrell added.
“Whether that would have continued if she were to become prime minister and she was in the news day in and day out is another matter entirely.”
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