James Cleverly takes narrow lead in Conservative race - but many voters 'do not care' who wins

Former foreign secretary James Cleverly is the public's favourite for new Conservative leader – but three in five people don't care who gets the job, polling has found.

In research by Ipsos, Cleverly – who rowed with the Scottish Government over meetings with overseas governments – has taken a narrow lead.

As many as 18 per cent of those polled said he would do a good job as Rishi Sunak's successor.

The MP – who campaigned in Edinburgh on Sunday with ex-Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson – is closely followed by former home secretary Priti Patel and ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat, who are on 17 per cent.

But 34 per cent of those polled said they do not favour any of the current candidates.

More than 1000 people across the UK were polled between 2-5 August for the study.

Trinh Tu, UK managing director of public affairs at Ipsos, said: "This new poll suggests a high level of public apathy about the Conservative leadership race. James Cleverly, Priti Patel and Tom Tugendhat emerge as early frontrunners, with former home secretary Priti Patel appearing to be the most divisive figure. 

"However, a significant portion of Britons are unfamiliar with the main candidates and say they do not care very much about who will emerge as the winner."

Despite Patel's relatively high level of support – which compares with 14 per cent for both Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, and nine per cent for Mel Stride – far more people thought she'd do a bad job than a good job as Conservative leader.

Almost half of those asked – 44 per cent – said she would make a bad leader, giving her the lowest net approval rating of -27.

Only 20 per cent said the same about Cleverly, giving him a net approval rating of -2.

Cleverly, who is now shadow home secretary, threatened to pull Foreign Office support for Scottish ministers in the row over meetings with overseas governments last year.

British diplomats were told to take a "firm approach" and ensure the Scottish Government did not use visits with foreign governments to promote independence or undermine UK policy.

External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson said Cleverly was "undermining Scotland's legal right to advance its interests by attempting to censor Scottish ministers".

The UK Conservative leadership contest is running at the same time as the Scottish Conservatives seek a successor to Douglas Ross.

Last week Murdo Fraser MSP became the sixth candidate to declare, with Russell Findlay, Brian Whittle, Meghan Gallacher, Liam Kerr and Jamie Greene also in the running.

While the Scottish winner will be announced at the end of September, the UK winner will be named at the start of November.