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Rishi Sunak is trailing Liz Truss in the Conservative leadership race by a gap of 32 points, according to a new survey by the influential website ConservativeHome website.
Of 1,003 members questioned, 58 per cent backed Ms Truss with 26 per cent Mr Sunak.
The survey was carried out today and yesterday, as Ms Truss was forced into an embarassing climbdown over plans to cut the pay of public sector workers outside London.
Her team immediately hailed the findings saying they showed her “vision for the UK is resonating with members”.
“They believe in her bold and ambitious economic plan for the the country, they know she’s on the side of people who work hard and do the right thing and they trust her to deliver on the opportunities of Brexit”.
But they insisted they were not complacent and that Liz would “continue to hustle for every vote” in the weeks left to run in the competition.
She received another boost with the endorsement of former chancellor Sajid Javid, who warned Rishi Sunak’s economic plans would lead Britain “sleepwalking into a high-tax, low-growth” economy.
The decision of Mr Javid and Mr Sunak to quit within an hour of each other last month triggered a series of resignations that finally brought Boris Johnson’s premiership to a close.
Mr Sunak has argued that tax cuts can come after soaraway inflation has been brought under control.
But Mr Javid, himself a former Tory leadership candidate, insisted that “tax cuts now are essential”.
Writing in the Times, he said: “Over the long term we are more likely to be fiscally sustainable by improving trend growth.
“Only by getting growth back to pre-financial crisis levels can we hope to support the high-quality public services people rightly expect. Some claim that tax cuts can only come once we have growth.
“I believe the exact opposite – tax cuts are a prerequisite for growth. Of course we need more than that, especially significant supply side reform, but tax cuts now are essential. There are no risk-free options in government. However, in my view, not cutting taxes carries an even greater risk.”
