Rishi Sunak’s team are being urged to overhaul their “general election-style” campaign in favor of a grassroots effort talking directly to Tory members in a last-ditch bid to beat Liz Truss to the Tory leadership .
With some supporters of the former chancellor despairing of the apparent control Truss has taken over the contest to replace Boris Johnson, allies have warned he has focused too much on polished social media content, TV appearances and visits to swing voters who have not made. won over conservative members.
Many Tory MPs believe there is now only a short window to change the race, with ballots handed out to members of . Some prominent backers want Sunak and a large network of supporting MPs to spend their time solely contacting local members directly through phone banks and online group calls to make their case.
Truss tried to play down suggestions she was on course for a clear victory on Saturday, saying the race to become prime minister was “not over”. Despite endorsements from prominent Tories last week, he said it would be “extremely premature” to start thinking about who would have a place in his cabinet. He added: “This is a very, very close race, and I’m fighting for every vote.”
Several MPs said many local members had been relatively easy to persuade to support Sunak over Truss once they had been contacted, arguing that support for the foreign secretary was often soft. However, they said the “air war” aspects of Sunak’s campaign simply weren’t getting through to members, thought to be around 160,000 people.
“They are doing it like an election campaign,” said one Sunak supporter. “This is very simple. There are 160,000 Conservative members spread across the country. We know who they are. We know where they are. All we have to do is talk to them. The social media campaign, the TV appearances, the most of them make no difference to members.
“The vote is very soft, you don’t have to do much to move it. We are making it too complicated. There are brilliant people at the helm, but I’m just concerned that we’re fighting the wrong campaign.”
Another MP said: “The stuff their men are producing is social media stuff for a general election. It’s about party members. It should just be about getting Rishi and his key supporters reach as many members as possible. They’re trying to get MPs for them, but mostly it’s producing social media graphics.”
A third ally said: “I think it’s quite difficult for him, but I can’t give up hope yet. There are many MPs talking to their associations. There is still time. It would be absurd to just go through the motions for the next four weeks.”
Campaign sources said last night that Sunak was already very committed to talking directly to members, including through online calls and local events. They said regional campaign coordinators had been working with supportive MPs from the start to reach out to members. He was also photographed meeting with groups of members yesterday.
“The more people see Rishi, the more they like him, so our strategy is to get him in front of as many members as possible,” said a campaign source. “We’re undoubtedly the underdogs, but last time I checked the British were the underdog going on. Members don’t like the media telling them what to think, so Team Truss shouldn’t be counting theirs yet chickens”.
Liz Truss yesterday; a number of prominent Tories have gone after her in recent days. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/PA
His team described yesterday as a “super Saturday”, targeting local Conservative associations in key southern constituencies with large memberships. They are also areas where members are most likely to have been upset by the chaotic nature of Johnson’s prime ministership.
Concerns remain about how the party will pull itself back together after a bitter campaign. Amanda Milling, the foreign secretary and former party president, is pushing candidates to sign on to a “clean campaign” pledge to limit the damage. “This leadership race has been the most toxic I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“For the rest of the race, I’m asking the teams to stop the blue on the blue and focus on a clean, fair and policy-focused campaign. If we don’t, we make the task of rallying the party more difficult and we risk to see us without power for a decade”.
Conservative member polls have suggested Truss has a good double-digit lead over Sunak, but the former chancellor’s cheerleaders say the battle is far from over. “The feeling is that the vote for Truss is still soft and so we don’t have to assume anything from members yet,” said one source.
In an earlier speech, Sunak promised to address what he described as “woke nonsense.” While he claimed he had no interest in fighting a “culture war”, he said he wanted to “end the brainwashing, the vandalism and the finger-pointing”. It led to accusations that he was trying to outflank Truss on the right.
Calls for a campaign overhaul are a sign of frustration and anxiety among Sunak’s supporters. While Sunak trails Truss in the polls, a number of prominent Tories have moved behind the Foreign Secretary in recent days as he has cemented his status as favourite.
Tom Tugendhat, who had emerged as the preferred leadership candidate for the centrist One Nation wing of the Conservative party, is the latest major figure to back Truss. He said his plan for immediate tax cuts “was based on true conservative principles.”
His support followed that of Jake Berry, the influential leader of MPs’ Northern Research Group, and the defense secretary, Ben Wallace, a favorite among Tory members.