Sajid Javid tells colleagues he is the only man who can defeat Labour at a the ballot box because he ‘reaches all parts of the electorate’
- New polling data shows the Home Secretary is the least disliked potential leader
- His supporters are hitting back at claims Boris Johnson is the front runner
- 45 per cent of voters said Mr Johnson would be bad for the country
Sajid Javid has told Tory MPs that only he can beat Jeremy Corbyn in a General Election as he reaches ‘all parts of the electorate’.
Supporters of the Home Secretary are hitting back at claims Boris Johnson is the front runner in the race to succeed Theresa May, citing polling data showing that Mr Javid is the least disliked Tory leadership contender in the eyes of the public.
MPs attempting to recruit backers to Mr Javid’s tilt at No 10 point to his ‘net favourability’ rating of minus 6 amongst voters, which is found by subtracting the number voters who dislike someone from the number that like them.
Sajid Javid’s polling data suggests he is the least disliked potential Tory leader in the eyes of the public
In comparison, Mr Johnson’s figure is minus 15, while the score drops to minus 22 for Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
The data was part of a widespread poll conducted by Deltapoll on behalf of The Mail on Sunday last week and has been pounced on by MPs keen to give their chosen candidate some momentum.
A graphic showing the numbers has been circulated on Westminster WhatsApp groups and sent directly to wavering MPs by Mr Javid’s allies.
Voters were asked whether the candidates would be good or bad for Britain, with 25 per cent suggesting Mr Javid would be good, and 31 per cent saying bad.
However 45 per cent of voters said Mr Johnson would be bad for the country, with 41 per cent worried about Mr Gove.
One ally of the Home Secretary said: ‘Everyone always says its Boris who can win over new voters, but he’s toxic after Brexit.
Sajid reaches parts of the electorate that the party have struggled to connect with for decades, like ethnic minorities and inner-city voters.’
They added: ‘Sajid was slow out the traps but he’s got numbers on his side.’
Mr Javid intends to use his ‘back story’ as the son of a Pakistani immigrant who came to Britain with ‘just a £1 note in his pocket’ in the 1960s as a major part of his pitch to lead the country.
His father Abdul settled in Rochdale, where he became a bus driver. His son had an extremely lucrative career as an investment banker, appointed a vice-president at Chase Manhattan Bank at 25.
Mr Javid was later appointed by global giants Deutsche Bank, where he reportedly earned £3 million a year, before taking a 98 per cent pay cut to enter politics in 2010.
ASPIRATION: Javid as a young boy. His father arrived in Britain with £1 in his pocket in the 1960s
With the Conservatives dogged with claims of Islamophobia within party ranks, a key ally said: ‘Electing the first Muslim PM as well as the first two female PMs would kill all that dead.’
However, supporters of Mr Johnson claim the former Foreign Secretary is ‘soaring with the membership’, pulling crowds not seen since Margaret Thatcher was at the peak of her popularity.
On Thursday evening, he attended a gathering of party faithful in the North East – traditionally an area of Britain with limited support for the Conservative Party.
One local source said: ‘It was the biggest fundraiser we’ve had in a generation and the most lucrative too.
‘He raised absolutely thousands for us. We haven’t seen anything like it since Maggie.’
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Damian Hinds has begun to be tipped as an emerging ‘dark-horse candidate’, despite keeping a low media profile.
A Cabinet source said: ‘He gave an incredibly passionate attack on No Deal at the long Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which lots of people saw as a bid to woo the Remainers.’
Another MP said: ‘I can’t decide whether the fact that no one has ever heard of him is a good or a bad thing, if you want to be the last man standing in all this.’
However, one Minister dismissed Mr Hinds’s chances, comparing his lacklustre television and radio performances as ‘akin to a golf commentator’.
Last night, private bookmakers Fitzdares, which has dozens of MPs and peers as private clients and is closely monitoring the leadership betting, said flutters on the Tory race had been ‘flat this week’.
CEO Will Woodhams said: ‘We had a flurry of bets after Jeremy Hunt appeared with Amal Clooney, but we still don’t favour him at 15/2.
‘We saw Priti Patel at the Grand National which must be a vote winner, so her odds have shortened to 40/1.
‘Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are still the favourites but, like the leaky pipes in the Commons, the betting has been a bit of a damp squib this week.’
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