Liz Truss has a gargantuan task awaiting her and more than half say she cannot unite the British public

More than half say Liz Truss cannot unite the UK public following her election as the new Conservative Party leader, according to a new poll from Savanta ComRes.

Just one in six (18%) adults say that the new Prime Minister can unite the country, including just 29% of Conservative voters.

On the subject of unity, just one in ten (10%) of UK adults say that the Conservative Party is united, rising only marginally to 15% of those that voted Conservative at the last election.

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And while it now falls on Liz Truss to try to be the person to heal the wounds of a feisty leadership campaign, just under half (46%) say that she cannot unite Conservative MPs and a similar proportion (44%) believe she cannot unite Conservative voters.

On Truss herself, only one in six (18%) view the new Prime Minister favourably, with 44% unfavourable. She’ll need to convince those that have a neutral opinion of her (28%) in order to lead the Conservatives to another election victory.

And while Truss seemingly ruled out an early election today, six in ten (60%) say the new Prime Minister should call a General Election by the end of the year, while a quarter (27%) say one should not be called that soon.

Chris Hopkins, Director of Political Research at Savanta ComRes said, “This poll illustrates the gargantuan task awaiting the new Prime Minister.

“Not only does she have one of the most troublesome in-trays that any incoming PM has had post-war, healing the wounds caused by a fierce leadership election and uniting her party at the same time is going to take some doing – especially given she may have to announce large pandemic-esque support packages to help Britons through the economic backdrop she’s inheriting.

“By fighting a campaign on tax cuts, positioning herself as a ‘true’ conservative compared to her rival, the support packages that may be necessary to ease the rising cost of living will need to be funded somehow, and more borrowing isn’t exactly a conservative principle either, so the need to unite her party may be just as difficult as this poll predicts.”