Rishi Sunak beats seven rivals including Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage among Tory voters in a new poll on who should be the party’s leader.
The research by polling company Savanta found the Prime Minister narrowly beat his predecessor among Conservative backers.
He was also chosen over former Ukip leader Mr Farage, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Home Secretary James Cleverly and security minister Tom Tugendhat.
But among the wider public the poll found Ms Mordaunt was the first choice for Tory leader due to her relative popularity among Labour voters.
Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta, said: “Our research suggests that recent rumblings of replacing the Prime Minister to drive up support among Conservative voters may be wide of the mark.
“Sunak beats every single one of his potential challengers in a head-to-head among 2019 Conservative voters, including Boris, Kemi and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.
“This is not a party that appears to have a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings, or an easy path to avoid an electoral drubbing by the Labour Party.
“Penny Mordaunt and her team should be the ones most happy with our findings, which show that she is the most likely to be chosen by the public over her potential leadership rivals.
“Labour voters in particular seem most keen on her, when compared with other senior Conservative figures.”
The poll of 2,237 UK adults between February 9-12 comes as the Conservatives are trailing Labour by around 20 points in opinion polls, while Mr Sunak’s personal ratings have plummeted.
There has been ongoing speculation over whether Mr Johnson, who led the Tories to a landslide victory at the 2019 election, will make a sensational comeback.
The Prime Minister earlier this month did not rule out a return to the Cabinet by his former boss.
Meanwhile, there have been suggestions Mr Farage could one day join the Conservatives although he has insisted he would not while Mr Sunak is at the helm.
