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Normal voters who are not regularly engaged in politics struggle to recognise the six candidates vying to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, despite the party being in government for 14 years.
Only former home secretary Priti Patel was recognisable to more than half of people on 10 focus groups made up of former and current Conservative voters, according to pollsters More in Common.
Dame Priti was recognised by 52 per cent, followed by James Cleverly, also a former home secretary, with 44 per cent, while the early bookmakers’ favourite Kemi Badenoch barely got more than a third with 37 per cent.
More damning still was that 70 per cent of those who took part either did not know who would be the best prime minister (36 per cent) or thought none of the six would make the best prime minister (34 per cent).
Nine of the focus groups were in seats the Tories lost at the last election - Surrey Heath, Basildon South and East Thurrock, Welwyn Hatfield, Shropshire North, Rother Valley, Stockton West, Swindon North, Great Yarmouth and Henley - with former Conservative voters who switched to Labour, the Liberal Democrats or Reform in 2024.
A tenth was held with Conservative voters.
All the participants were not actively engaged in politics and were asked to react to videos of the six candidates giving speeches or interviews.
The least well known, former work and pensions secretary Mel Stride, who is favourite to be the first voted out on Wednesday, and was described as “dull” and “quite boring” with “a lack of real spark” by participants.
But the survey also found that ordinary voters strongly liked Mr Stride’s voice which many described as “being like David Attenborough” with some suggesting he had more of a future reading audiobooks than in politics.
While Dame Priti was the most recognised, this did not always work in her favour. Some remembered her for bullying allegations during her time as home secretary, others called her “divisive”.
However, her reputation for straight talking and direct style was liked by participants.
One noted: “I do think she’s a strong person who doesn’t give a monkeys what anybody thinks about her. I think that she would, if she got her teeth into things, she would enforce it.”
The candidate whose personality was most liked was Mr Cleverly, but many partcipants struggled to take him seriously.
One participant said: “I still didn’t see a leader no matter how well he spoke seems like a great guy. I think there’s a difference between being a great bloke that can speak well and a leader.”
Meanwhile, Ms Badenoch was the one who was most likely to get both Reform and Lib Dem voters to switch back to the Tories.
A charity worker said: “She could bring some new fresh, young blood, slightly different to your typical public school boy Conservative leader.”
However, despite being in the cabinet her experience came under question. Others described her as “lacking in charisma” and “monotone” in her delivery.
The candidate for the right has become former communities secretary Robert Jenrick, who has vowed to take the UK out of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
An engineer from Stockton said: “It felt like you could rely on him to deliver those things. It was the language he was using I thought was good.”
But another participant said: “I quite like the policies of Robert Jenrick, but he didn’t come across as a likeable person who’s going to unite any party .”
The sixth candidate is former security minister Tom Tugendhat who, like Mr Cleverly, won support because he is a former army officer and was seen as coming across as the “most prime ministerial” and was praised for “seeming to be authentic”.
But others thought him “too posh”.
A cleaner from Grat Yarmouth said: “I didn’t like him. It just reminded me of a normal Sandhurst officer, someone who’s educated, talks the talk, but can’t walk the walk.”
