Tories regret electing Duncan Smith
A new survey has found that over half of Conservative members now believe their party made a mistake in electing Iain Duncan Smith as leader two years ago.
The YouGov survey for The Telegraph found 53 per cent of Conservative members regretted the decision.
Nine out ten said Duncan Smith’s helmsmanship has been “adequate” at best, or “weak and ineffectual” at worst.
His leadership was perceived as either “adequate but not more” (60 per cent) or “weak and ineffectual” (30 per cent).
But most of Mr Duncan Smith’s initial backers still abide by their decision.
Crucially, the survey found Tory members split on whether Duncan Smith should step down.
On the question of whether there should a leadership election, 44 per cent agreed.
On the question of who should lead the party, William Hague, Mr Duncan Smith’s predecessor, topped voter preferences.
The “dual ticket” of Michael Howard and Oliver Letwin also gained strong support.
Voters were asked to judge the performance of Tory’s front bench. Only 54 per cent of respondents said Duncan Smith was doing a good job. This compared unfavourably with the 79 per cent who thought Oliver Letwin, Liam Fox and Michael Howard were performing well.
YouGov asked 466 respondents for their opinions on an online survey between Oct 6 and 8.
