Is our next PM really prepared for crisis on all fronts?

Spiralling inflation, soaring bills, growing NHS waiting lists and ‘indefinite’ strikes – is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak really ready to sort out the mess, asks Adam Forrest

The candidates have been begrudging about the extra help required this winter (PA)

Rishi Sunak is not giving up. The Tory leadership hopeful did his best to sound upbeat in an ITV interview on Thursday, telling his childhood hero Andi Peters he was “really excited to keep going” despite dispiriting poll numbers.

The underdog looks increasing like a lost cause. The latest YouGov survey of Conservative members has Liz Truss well out in front (at 66 per cent compared with Sunak’s 34 per cent). A majority of card-carrying Tories say they’ve already voted, so Sunak’s chance of winning over enough undecideds appears to be doomed.

The Truss camp is gleeful about the results, as are the growing number of Tory MPs backing her to be the next prime minister in the hope that some belated brown-nosing might just secure them a job in government.