More than twice as many Britons want Kamala Harris rather than Donald Trump to be the next US president, according to a new poll.
The exclusive Ipsos survey for The Evening Standard found that 50 per cent of adults in Britain would prefer to see Democrat Ms Harris in the White House.
For Trump, the figure is just 21 per cent.
But 49 per cent expect the Republican candidate to win the November 5 election, and just 22 per cent Ms Harris.
This compares to 30 per cent in May believing Trump will win, and 26 per cent Joe Biden, though latest polls in the US suggest the race is now very close after the president announced he would not seek re-election.
Trump, 78, who seemed to be heading back to the White House after the failed assassination attempt against him last month and Mr Biden’s stumbling performances, now appears to be losing ground to Ms Harris, 59, and to be launching increasingly desperate attacks on her, recently saying: “I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago”.
The Ipsos poll showed that even Tory voters would prefer a Harris win, 38 per cent, compared to 23 per cent for Trump.
Nearly three quarters of Labour backers want the Democrat contender to triumph and 55 per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters.
But three times as many Reform UK voters want Trump to win, by 54 per cent to Ms Harris’ 18 per cent.
The poll also showed that 46 per cent believe a Harris win would boost the Special Relationship between America and Britain, with 13 per cent saying it would damage the trans-Atlantic ties.
For Trump, who became the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime, the figures are the reverse, with 52 per cent saying if he makes a White House comeback it would hit the the UK’s relationship with the US, and 23 per cent believing it would have a positive impact.
The survey’s findings appeared to be particularly swayed by a dislike of Trump.
Six out of ten Britons have an “unfavourable” view of him, 24 per cent a “favourable” one, and 12 per cent “neither”.
For vice president Ms Harris the figures are 34 per cent favourable, 19 per cent the opposite, and 31 per cent “neither”.
She scores higher than Mr Biden who was on 26 per cent favourable, 38 per cent unfavourable and 30 per cent “neither”.
Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos, said: “Prior to Joe Biden’s decision not to seek a second term as President much of the conventional wisdom presumed Kamala Harris would be a poor alternative candidate.
“However, with the polls closing in the US and greater enthusiasm amongst Democrats the opposite appears true for now.
“Meanwhile, over here, our numbers show that Britons are more favourable to Harris than they were towards Joe Biden in May and more likely to think a Harris win is in Britain’s national interests than a Trump victory. Even if they expect the latter.”
Trump was found guilty in May on all counts in an historic New York trial, becoming the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime.
He was unanimously convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
A six-week trial heard from 22 witnesses, including former porn star Stormy Daniels, whose alleged sexual encounter with the former president was at the centre of the case.
The new survey also highlighted that former California Attorney General Ms Harris is far less known by Britons that either Trump or Biden.
Nine per cent of adults in Britain said they had never heard of Ms Harris, 17 per cent said they had heard about her but knew nothing about her, 35 per cent stated they did not know very much about her, 27 per cent said they knew a fair amount about her, and nine per cent a great deal.
In stark contrast, 28 per cent responded that they know a great deal about Trump, 48 per cent a fair amount, 17 per cent not very much, four per cent had heard about him but did not know anything about him, and one per cent said they had never heard of him.
For Mr Biden, 20 per cent stated they knew a great deal about him, 46 per cent a fair amount, 24 per cent not very much, seven per cent had heard of him but did not know anything about him, and one per cent had never heard of him.
Combining the figures for each of them, 76 per cent said they knew a great deal or fair amount about Trump, 66 per cent for Mr Biden, and 36 per cent for Ms Harris.
* Ipsos interviewed 1,052 adults in Britain aged 18 to 75 between July 24-25. Data are weighted.
