Fresh Blow To Kemi Badenoch As Just 1 In 10 Brits Think Tory Leader Is PM In Waiting

Only one in 10 Brits believe Kemi Badenoch looks like a prime minister in waiting, according to a devastating new poll.

It’s a fresh blow for the Tory leader, who is already grappling with the rise of Reform UK, their right-wing opponents who have managed to eclipse the Conservatives in the opinion polls over the last year.

Nigel Farage’s party is now described by Labour as the government’s main opposition – despite having just five MPs – rather than the Tories, who are still the second largest party in parliament.

Badenoch was only elected as leader in November, but the Tories’ plummeting popularity has sparked speculation about how longer she might last as the Conservative leader.

Tory sources have even told HuffPost UK it was a matter of “when not if” Badenoch would be ousted.

These latest stats from YouGov certainly do not offer Badenoch any reprieve either.

A new survey has found a whopping 65% of Brits think the Conservative leader does not look like a future PM – an increase of 10 percentage points compared to February.

Just 10% of respondents believe she could succeed Keir Starmer, a decline of four percentage points over the last four months.

Even among 2024 Conservative voters, 60% said they do not believe Badenoch looks like a PM in waiting compared to 21% who said she could be in No.10.

Those numbers improve when looking at current Tory voters, although the majority (45%) still think she does not look like a future PM compared to those who believe she does (31%).

Unsurprisingly, 51% of all Brits also told YouGov they believe Badenoch is doing a bad job as Tory leader, compared to 16% who think she is doing well.

And a further 63% of respondents claimed Reform UK is more likely to win more seats than the Tories at the next election.