PM.UK

Head to Head Debate – Who Won

On Monday 25 July, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak took part in a head to head debate on BBC One.

Tory members say Liz Truss triumphed in BBC leadership debate, finds a snap Yougov Poll taken immediately after the debate.

The YouGov poll of 507 Conservative party members who watched last night’s BBC debate between the two Tory leadership candidates shows that Truss is seen as the better performer, with 50% saying so to Rishi Sunak’s 39%.

The two contenders to be the next PM did not hold back from “blue-on-blue” attacks in the hour-long BBC special.

Mr Sunak told Ms Truss her tax cut plan would “tip millions of people into misery” and cost the Conservatives the next election.

Ms Truss said tax rises brought in by him would lead to a recession.

Tory members think Truss came across as more in touch, likeable and trustworthy at the BBC debate, although they are split on which candidate looked more Prime Ministerial

However, on the matter of who looked more prime ministerial, the candidates tied: 43% say that Rishi Sunak did, while 42% give that point to Liz Truss.

Across the multitude of issues covered by the debate, Truss sweeps the board, being seen as better on every single one.

What Happens Next – the Final Two

Hustings for members of the Conservative Party will be held around the country – starting from Friday 22 July.

The winner will be announced on Monday 5 September after a postal ballot, completed by 160,000 Tory party members.

The final two candidates have agreed to take part in a head-to-head debate on the BBC on Monday 25 July.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss make the final two

Conservative MPs have voted for the final two candidates to replace Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss make the final two – Penny Mordaunt is knocked out

Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP

The results were:

  • Rishi Sunak – 137
  • Penny Mordaunt – 105
  • Liz Truss – 113

Penny Mordaunt has been eliminated.

4th Round Results

Kemi Badenoch has been knocked out of the leadership race after coming last in the latest round of voting.

Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP

Rishi Sunak secured the most votes in the fourth ballot among Tory MPs, with Penny Mordaunt coming second.

The votes were as follows:

  • Rishi Sunak – 118
  • Penny Mordaunt – 92
  • Liz Truss – 86
  • Kemi Badenoch – 59

The three remaining candidates will face another vote tomorrow, where MPs will pick a final two candidates.

Voting will then be thrown open to all Conservative Party members to pick the winner, after a series of hustings throughout August.

The new Conservative Party leader and prime minister will be announced on 5 September.

BBC TV debate announced

The BBC will broadcast a final TV debate called “Our Next Prime Minister” between the final two candidates in the contest on 25 July.

It will be presented by Sophie Raworth, with analysis from BBC Political Editor Chris Mason and BBC Economics Editor Faisal Islam.

The programme will broadcast live from Stoke-on-Trent in front of a 80 to 100 strong audience at 9pm on BBC One.

The first TV debate on Channel 4

TV debates have already taken place on Channel 4 and ITV.

The BBC has confirmed that all three remaining candidates – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Liz Truss, have agreed to participate in the debate if they make it to the final two, after Sky News was forced to cancel its own planned debate when Mr Sunak and Ms Truss declined to take part.

Third Round Results

Tom Tugendhat has been knocked out. Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt still make up the top two.

Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Kemi Badenoch MP
Kemi Badenoch MP

The votes were as follows:

  • Rishi Sunak – 115
  • Penny Mordaunt – 82
  • Liz Truss – 71
  • Kemi Badenoch – 58
  • Tom Tugendhat – 31

The four remaining candidates will face another vote tomorrow, where another contender will be knocked out.

Third Round Voting

The main event today is the third round of voting which will whittle the five Tory leadership candidates down to four. Here are the 5 MPs still in the race:

Penny Mordaunt MP
Penny Mordaunt MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP
Kemi Badenoch MP
Kemi Badenoch MP
Tom Tugendhat MP
Tom Tugendhat MP

The vote itself is scheduled to take place 5pm to 7pm on Monday 18th July 2022.

The person with the fewest votes is eliminated from the contest and will then have to decide which of their rivals to support instead. It’s common practice that at least some – if not all – of a former candidate’s backers will be guided by their decision, which could prove vital as we edge closer to the final run-off of two candidates.

The result of the vote is expected at 8pm

The Voting process will be repeated until only 2 remain.

The two remaining MPs will then travel the country and rally support at hustings. They will each have a budget of £300,000, excluding travel, to spend on their campaigns.

The final two candidates will contest a vote among the 200,000 Conservative Party members. This tiny group, which works out to about 0.29 per cent of the population, will decide the next prime minister.

Tory leadership TV debate in Chaos

The next live TV Tory leadership debate on Tuesday has been cancelled, after host Sky News said Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss declined to take part.

The two contenders clashed repeatedly during an ITV debate on Sunday over each other’s economic plans and record in office.

Liz Truss MP
Liz Truss MP
Rishi Sunak MP
Rishi Sunak MP

Who won the first Tory leadership debate

The first Tory leadership debate took place on live television on Friday evening. Hosted by journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy and broadcast on Channel 4, with streaming on All4, the event was watched by 7.4 million viewers.

Here’s how the papers ranked the winners and losers of the debate.

WinnerLoser
The IndependentTom Tugendhat
Daily MailTom Tugendhat
The New StatesmanRishi SunakLiz Truss
The TelegraphRishi Sunak
The GuardianTom Tugendhat
The SpectatorTom Tugendhat / Rishi Sunak
The ExpressTom Tugendhat

Bookie’s favourite at this stage is Penny Mordaunt

Bookie's odds graphic - source William Hill (17-7-2022 10am)

Tory leadership TV debates

Channel 4 will host the first live television debate for candidates aiming to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and the country’s next Prime Minister, followed by ITV and then Sky.

Britain’s Next PM: The Conservative Leadership Debate will air on Channel 4 on Friday 15th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.

The debate will also be available to watch live on All4 and then on catch-up.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy hosts the debate with the candidates who are still in the running for the top job, facing questions from a studio audience of floating voters.

The Conservative leadership debate will air on ITV on Sunday 17th July 2022 at 7pm GMT.

The show will be available to watch live on ITV Hub and then on the streamer’s catch-up service following its airing.

The debate will be recorded at ITV’s White City Studios.

The channel previously aired a similar debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt when they were competing for Conservative Party leader in 2019.

The Conservative leadership debate will air on Sky News on Monday 18th July 2022.

The event will also be made available across Sky News’ digital channels and will be streamed on YouTube.

The debate will take place at the Sky News studios in West London and be presented by Kay Burley with questions from a virtual studio audience.