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Conservative voters have delivered a damning verdict on Kemi Badenoch, with just one in four of them believing she looks like a prime minister-in-waiting.
The damning findings come as she prepares to mark 100 days since she became Tory leader last October.
According to a YouGov poll marking that milestone, fewer than half of those who voted Tory at last year’s election (48%) believe Badenoch looks like a prospective PM, while 26% of them do not.
Across the whole of the population, just one in seven voters (14%) say she currently has what it takes to be prime minister.
Among the Reform UK, Labour and Lib Dem voters that she needs to win over to get into No.10, around two-thirds do not yet see Badenoch as PM material.
In a further blow for the Tory leader, twice as many people say she is untrustworthy (39%) as trustworthy (19%), while 39% also say she is dislikable compared to 24% who say she is likable.
However, 56% of 2024 Tory voters say she is doing a good job, with just 17% saying she is doing a bad job.
Badenoch has endured a difficult start to her time as Conservative leader, with a poll last week showing the party being pushed into third place behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Labour.
However, the latest YouGov poll shows that two-thirds of all voters, and 59% of Tories, believe that the party would be in the same state regardless of who is leader.
Meanwhile, a senior Tory frontbencher today refused to rule out the party doing a deal with Reform UK ahead of the next election in a bid to unite the right of British politics.
Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, repeatedly dodged the question when quizzed by Trevor Phillips on Sky News.
Polling by JL Partners for the Sunday Times showed Reform UK are on course to win 102 seats at the next election – up from the five they currently have.
The poll suggests Labour will lose 211 seats but will still be the largest party with 200 MPs, just ahead of the Conservatives on 190.
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