Tory leadership: Dominic Raab allies attack Boris Johnson as ‘face from the past’

Supporters of Dominic Raab’s bid for the Tory leadership have gone on the attack on frontrunner Boris Johnson, saying that new polling showed that voters did not want “a controversial face from the past” as prime minister.

Polling by YouGov found that more than half of those questioned (53 per cent) thought the former foreign secretary would make a bad PM – more than for any other contender.

But the same survey suggested that more voters (26 per cent) saw Mr Johnson as a good potential PM than any of his rivals, followed by home secretary Sajid Javid on 18 per cent.

Mr Johnson gained a double boost to his leadership campaign, as a legal case against him for allegedly misleading voters in the 2016 EU referendum was quashed in the High Court, while three further MPs went public with endorsements.

Backing from former ministers Chloe Smith and Sir Mike Penning, as well as Sleaford MP Caroline Johnson, consolidated his position as frontrunner in the race for MPs’ support, with 48 declared backers to Michael Gove’s 32 and Jeremy Hunt’s 31.

The poll found Mr Johnson in the lead among the general public as best candidate for Tory leader and PM, with 19 per cent, followed by international development secretary Rory Stewart on seven and home secretary Sajid Javid on six. And among Tory voters, he had a more emphatic lead on 34 per cent against seven for Mr Javid and Mr Hunt.

Crucially, 54 per cent of Tory supporters said they believed Mr Johnson was capable of winning a general election and 47 per cent said he would do a good job of handling Brexit.

But Raab-supporting minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “Polls show that the public is clear what they don’t want: a controversial face from the past.

“Fifty-three per cent of voters think Boris Johnson would be a bad prime minister.

“This is a serious moment in our history – colleagues should follow the evidence and elect a fresh face with a serious plan capable of delivering Brexit.”

Following the Tories’ slump into third place behind the Brexit Party in the Peterborough by-election, Mr Hunt warned there was “no future” for the party until it delivered EU withdrawal.

He warned: “No future for our party until we deliver Brexit – any elections before then will just allow Corbyn to sneak through the middle. But when the UK has Brexited, we will be back.”

Mr Johnson said that if the UK had not left by 31 October, it risked “Brexit Party votes delivering Corbyn to No 10”, while Mr Raab said any further delay would let Labour into power “by the back door”.

But Mr Stewart – who has said he is ready to delay Brexit to deliver a deal – challenged his leadership rivals’ reading of the Peterborough result.

Figures from the British Electoral Survey showed that 88 per cent of Conservative-held seats had seen a swing to Remain parties since the 2016 referendum, with 124 of them now containing more voters who support Remain-backing parties than no-dealers, he said.

“We must reach across divides to the centre ground and win back younger, Remain voters as well as Leave voters,” said Mr Stewart. “That’s the right and the smart thing to do. And I will do it.”

The YouGov poll found that Mr Stewart had the highest positive ratings of any of the 11 declared candidates among voters who expressed an opinion on them.

But despite winning attention through social media videos of his encounters with members of the public as he tours the country, almost three-quarters of those questioned (72 per cent) said they did not know enough about him to judge.

Among those who expressed an opinion, 30 per cent said the international development secretary would make a good PM, against 29 per cent for Mr Johnson and 26 per cent for Mr Javid.

“I am now ahead of Boris and the other candidates,” said Mr Stewart, whose recognition among the public has increased from 30 per cent to 40 per cent over the past fortnight. “This is vital as we build awareness.”

Leadership contenders continued to set out elements of their policy platforms.

Mr Javid said he would make it easier for foreign students to work in the UK after graduation, tearing up a major part of the immigration policy he inherited from Ms May.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, set out proposals to abolish business rates for small high street firms and boost the living wage to £10.21 by 2022.

Outsider Sam Gyimah – the only Tory leadership hopeful to support a second referendum – promised to scrap the “five worst taxes” to boost economic growth.

Setting his sights on the income tax threshold “stealth tax”, investment tax, business rates tax on property improvements, stamp duty on homes under £1m and the 60 per cent marginal tax rate on those earning over £100,000, he said: “Tax cuts are needed, but they have to be about growth, growth, growth, to get the country moving and to make Britain boom again.”

YouGov interviewed 1,755 adults on 3 and 4 June.