Suella Braverman’s hopes of becoming the next Tory leader have been dealt a huge blow after she was rejected by the party’s voters as well as the general public.
A new poll by the More in Common think-tank, shows the former home secretary is the least popular potential candidate to replace Rishi Sunak with both groups.
The findings, seen by HuffPost UK, suggest Braverman’s hardline views on issues such as immigration and homelessness are a turn-off with voters.
Her approval rating is minus 31, making her the only senior Conservative even less popular than Sunak himself.
By contrast, Penny Mordaunt - one of Braverman’s biggest rivals for the job - is the only candidate with positive approval ratings.
Others who are more popular than Braverman include security minister Tom Tugendhat, business secretary Kemi Badenoch and even Boris Johnson.
Even more worryingly for Braverman, she also comes bottom of the pile among those who voted Tory at the 2019 election with a minus 16 approval rating.
Once again, Mordaunt is the most popular candidate with an approval rating of plus 41 - putting her well ahead of the rest of the pack.
Luke Tryl, UK Director of More in Common said: “The truth is there just isn’t a constituency for Suella’s brand of politics - she suffers from the politically disastrous combination of having high name recognition and high unpopularity.
“If the Conservatives are thinking about life after Rishi Sunak they might want to look at other contenders such as Tom Tughendaht, Kemi Badenoch or Penny Mordaunt, who remains the most popular potential leadership choice by a wide margin.”