Majority of UK voters feel Rishi Sunak doesn’t represent change

A new survey has found that a majority of Britons feel Rishi Sunak doesn’t represent change for the UK.

The YouGov study comes following the prime minister’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference this week.

During a speech at the conference on Thursday (5 October), Sunak marketed himself as a man who could “fundamentally change our country”, as opposed to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who he described as a “continuity candidate.”

Despite 13 years of the Tory Party being in power, Sunak suggested that it was “time for a change” and that a vote for Labour would be a vote to “stand still and accept more of the same.”

It would appear that this attempt by Sunak to reassert his leadership hasn’t done much to sway to British public, though.

A YouGov survey of over 3,000 Britons conducted shortly after Sunak’s speech found that only 13 per cent of UK voters think that the Prime Minister represents change.

Meanwhile, 69 per cent agree that Sunak simply represents “more of the same.”

During his speech at the Conservative Party Conference, Sunak pledged to introduce a number of new policies for the UK, from scrapping the HS2 leg between Birmingham and Manchester, a ban on smoking that would ensure those aged 14 would never be able to legally buy a cigarette, and a replacement for the A-levels and T-levels.

The PM sparked heavy discourse toward the end of his speech when he came down hard on transgender rights, telling the crowd: “No one should be bullied into believing anyone can be whatever sex they want to be. A man is a man and a woman is a woman.”

Footage of this moment in Sunak’s speech has horrified viewers, as members of the Conservative Party Conference can be heard whooping and cheering in response to the hateful remark.

Despite transgender rights appearing to be at the forefront of the minds of the Tory party, it’s worth remembering an earlier YouGov survey that found a majority of UK voters oppose Sunak’s views.

A major 2022 YouGov study found that 55 per cent of Britons agreed that people should be allowed to identify as a gender different from that on their birth certificate, while 49 per cent agreed that the prejudice against transgender people in the UK was a major to a significant problem.

Meanwhile, 42 per cent of those surveyed had paid little to no attention to the trans rights debate going on in Westminster, despite MPs’ fixation on it.

So, despite the chilling response that Sunak’s upsetting comments received, studies have proven that the PM’s views don’t represent the masses.In fact, the backlash to Sunak’s anti-trans rhetoric has been immense, with LGBTQ+ advocates, celebrities, influencers, and members of the public rallying together to show their support for the transgender community.