On Monday night, the front-runner in the leadership race said she would save £8.8 billion by introducing regional pay boards instead of national ones to set civil servants’ pay, reflecting where they live. But experts warned that to reach the figure, the plan would have to branch out further from government departments, with teachers, nurses and police also receiving lower wages than workers in the South. This led to outrage from Conservative MPs and by midday today – less than 24 hours later – Ms Truss’ team had issued a statement saying the policy would not be taken forward. Politics Hub: Sunak allies attack Truss public sector pay plan A statement insisted that “current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained”, adding: “Our hard-working frontline staff are the bedrock of society and there will be no proposal for regional public sector pay boards or public sector workers. “ Team Truss also claimed there had been a “deliberate misrepresentation” of the policy, but former Tory whip Mark Harper said they should “stop blaming journalists” for reporting the details in its own press release. A Team Sunak source pointed to comparisons made between Mrs Truss and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, paraphrasing her famous line on today’s events: “The lady is about to turn.” While Tory strongman Mayor of Tees Valley Ben Hutchen told reporters the policy would be “a surefire way to lose the next general election”. The first major misstep from Ms Truss’s campaign came as Mr Sunak struggled to make up ground during a key week in the contest for the keys to No 10. However, the day ended on a high for Ms Truss after the release of the latest YouGov poll of Tory MPs showing she has extended her lead over Mr Sunak to 34 points in the Tory leadership race . The survey, carried out for The Times, finds that 60% of party members now say they will vote for the foreign secretary to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister. This compares with just 26% for former chancellor Mr Sunak.
Analysis: Sunak fans will fear game over
John Craig
Chief Political Correspondent @joncraig After a day in which Liz Truss’s Tory leadership campaign was hit by her regional pay blunder, suddenly Rishi Sunak is on the ropes, according to a shock new poll. What is surprising is not just the huge lead the YouGov poll shows Ms Truss now has over Mr Sunak, but the claim that almost nine out of 10 Tories have already made up their minds. At 26%, the level of support for the former chancellor is dismal and the 60% predicted to back the foreign secretary will calm nerves in her camp after her embarrassing public sector pay shake-up. Although it’s just one poll, and polls are just a snapshot, YouGov’s findings suggest Mrs Truss could be heading for as decisive a victory as Boris Johnson’s over Jeremy Hunt in 2019. Mr Johnson then won 66.4% of the party’s vote and Mr Hunt 33.6%, with a margin of victory of almost 33%, similar to the 34-point lead YouGov now gives Ms Truss against Mr. Sunak. The YouGov poll also shows that only 14% of party members are undecided or say they will not vote, and is in stark contrast to an earlier private poll which suggested the gap had narrowed to just five points. The last YouGov poll before this was taken after the five rounds of voting by MPs, when Penny Mordaunt was voted out, and suggested a 24-point lead for Ms Truss over Mr Sunak, 62%-38%. The apparent widening of the gap, in the week when party members receive their ballot papers, will excite Truss supporters – and, no doubt, those of the ousted Mr Johnson who want to see Sunak crushed. But it is likely to plunge Sunak’s camp into grief, panic and despair and spread fears among his team that the game is up for the former chancellor, even before most Tories have voted. The poll, conducted over the past five days, shows Ms Truss is now ahead of Mr Sunak across all age groups, in different parts of the country and with both men and women. The only category where she beats Mrs Truss is among Tory Remain supporters. The YouGov survey published today also found that almost nine in 10 Conservative members have now decided how they will vote ahead of the ballots going out this week. But it will concern both potential next leaders that more than 50% of party members believed that whoever was elected to succeed Mr Johnson would lose the party’s majority at the next election. Just 19% of members believed Mr Sunak could lead the Tories to victory, while 39% believed Ms Truss could fend off a challenge from Labour. As the leadership race continues to heat up, contenders Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will be back in front of the cameras this week on Sky News. The Battle for Number 10, which will take place on Thursday, August 4 at 8 p.m. at Sky Studios in west London, will see the candidates take part in back-to-back questions from a live studio audience made up of Conservative Party members who remain largely undecided about who to vote for. This will be followed by an in-depth interview with Kay Burley. The program will be broadcast live for 90 minutes and free-to-air on Sky News channel 501, Freeview 233, Sky Showcase channel 106 and Sky News digital channels.
