Who should Labour fear most at the ballot box – Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt or Liz Truss?

Keir Starmer has defined himself as the anti-Boris Johnson but that effect is now disappearing, and the terms of the debate are changing, writes Sean O’Grady

Bridging the gap: Keir Starmer in Gateshead earlier this week (Getty)

Who should Labour most fear: Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt or Liz Truss?

The most obvious, but most superficial answer, is Rishi Sunak. A JL Partners poll, heavily promoted by the Ready for Rishi campaign, shows that he enjoys a lead over Keir Starmer as best prime minister of… 1 percentage point. The other candidates, such as Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt, lag far behind the Labour leader by 12 to 15 points, respectively. So everything is relative, yet that single poll finding hardly justifies the Twitter graphic with the banner heading “Only Rishi can beat Labour”.

For one thing it dates back to before the first round, effectively a lifetime ago. Second, common sense tells one that it would be heavily driven by the fact that only Sunak and Liz Truss are remotely recognised by the public. And, sadly, the latest similar survey, by Savanta ComRes, albeit before the second round ended, placed Starmer ahead of Sunak by 39 per cent to 36 per cent – a deficit of three points (and a “don’t know” factor of 25 per cent).