LIZ Truss is still the hot favourite to be the next PM and Tory leader, according to a new poll.
The survey by YouGov places the Foreign Secretary 34 points ahead of rival Rishi Sunak.
A new poll has put Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss 34 points ahead of rival Rishi Sunak
Penny Mordaunt, who came third in the Tory leadership contest, has endorsed Liz Truss to be PM
A whopping 69 per cent of Tory members want Ms Truss to win the leadership race while only 31 per cent back Mr Sunak.
The disappointing score for the ex-Chancellor shows he is losing ground in contest, with a seven per cent drop on the last YouGov poll.
The race to be PM heated up this week with both teams ramping up attacks on their opponents.
On Monday Mr Sunak accused Ms Truss of showing “true Remainer colours” when she pledged to let more European fruit pickers into Britain.
The Foreign Secretary hit out the ex-Chancellor for only promising to slash taxes in seven years compared to her pledge of seven weeks.
Meanwhile, the posting of ballot papers to Tory members was delayed last night following security concerns.
Britain’s spy agency GCHQ told the the party they are concerned about hacking threats to its online voting system.
Previously Tory members were told they could pick their favourite candidate online and change their vote at a later date.
Under new rules members will now only be able to vote once – either online or by post.
They have until September 4 to cast their votes with the contest winner being announced the next day.
Ballot papers should arrive on doorsteps by August 11 at the latest.
A National Cyber Security Centre spokesman said: “Defending UK democratic and electoral processes is a priority for the NCSC, and we work closely with all parliamentary political parties, local authorities and MPs to provide cyber security guidance and support.
“As you would expect from the UK’s national cyber security authority, we provided advice to the Conservative Party on security considerations for online leadership voting.”
Tonight Ms Truss and Mr Sunak will cross paths again for the third of 16 leadership hustings.
The event in Cardiff will focus on issues including devolution and levelling up.
Mr Sunak is likely to have a pop at Ms Truss over her former plans to replace national pay deals with regional pay boards.
The idea was slammed as “horrible” by Tory MPs, who also said it was anti-levelling up.
The Foreign Secretary quickly u-turned on the campaign pledge after it received huge backlash.
