The latest Conservative Post poll is in, and it’s clear: Suella Braverman is the overwhelming favourite among party members to become their new leader.
In just 24 hours, 3168 Conservative Party members voted and the former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman has received more than double the votes of any other candidate.
In the Conservative Post poll which was sent to 14,000 verified party members, Ms Braverman has more than double the level of support of nearest rival Kemi Badenoch, while James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat come in a distant last.
Suella has so far received 1075 votes, followed by Kemi Badenoch with 452, Robert Jenrick is on 394, Priti Patel has 392, Tom Tugendhat has 288 and James Cleverly is on 254. Members therefore suggest Suella Braverman’s inclusion on the leadership ballot is crucial.
However, Ms Braverman faces a challenge actually clearing the hurdle of securing a spot on the ballot. To do so she requires the backing of at least 10 Conservative MPs. But many of the former Home Secretary’s allies have either lost their seats or have already been persuaded to back other candidates.
Unfortunately for Suella, members don’t get a say until the last round of the leadership contest when they are given a choice of two candidates that MPs have whittled down.
Conservative Post Editor Claire Bullvant says:
“If MPs ignore this and put forward two One Nation candidates or someone the grassroots clearly reject, the Conservative Party faces certain doom. Such a misstep would drive away our loyal members in droves.
“To safeguard our party’s future, MPs must listen to the voices of the grassroots. When our leader has the backing of the party members, the Conservative Party flourishes, stable and united. The base springs into action, just like during Thatcher’s era in the mid-80s or Boris Johnson’s first six months of unparalleled support.
“But when the party ignores or defies its core supporters, it quickly falls out of favour. This has been painfully evident with Rishi Sunak – the entire mechanism sputters and stalls. Members go on strike, and civil war ensues. I hear from members daily who feel utterly ignored and disenfranchised. One loyal member of over 50 years recently lamented: ‘They want my time, my money, and my effort but they don’t want my opinions. If they don’t listen to me now, I’m gone.’
“It’s time to act. We need to bring our members back, many of whom are currently disillusioned and drifting towards Reform. Conservative members are clamouring for change. They want Suella Braverman on the ballot. But the pressing question is: are the MPs listening?”
Photo credit: UK Gov / Home Office 2022 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
If Jenrik and Patel row in behind Suella and as leader she appoints Frost as the Party Chair then we get our party back and I and many others re-join.
This is our one chance to save the party we love from oblivion, I urge MPs and memebers to take it.
It is clear from the messages in the leadership bid videos that Stride, Cleverly and Tugendhat are not listening to the base. They inspire no confidence in me that they will change anything. We need a right of centre leader to drive through changes in Parliament, the civil service, education, law and immigration, policing and trade union modernisation. None of the 3 mentioned above have given any sense they understand what is needed.
I think we are not going to do any of those things. Your post overlooks one thing
This poll is completely worthless without full data and therefore the conclusions are completely worthless. Please can you supply, CT, the data below which would validate the claim
Can you please explain how it is known the people are CP members? And the statement that 14000 questionaires were sent out and only 3000 replies were received. That suggests the results are not representative at all
Of 170,000 CP members, less than 1% cannot honestly be stated to represent all the members can it?
How were the people selected? Age sex where they live type of job how they voted in 2019 and how they voted in 2024 and what exactly were the questions and the responses to the other questions and between which dates the poll was taken and how. Who did the poll on whose behalf. What instructions were they given about how the poll was structured and sent?
I have raised these issues before. Without success