IN a vox populi survey carried out for the Post in Bude and Holsworthy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 1, 2 and 3, 255 people were asked who they would choose to be their next Prime Minister: Jeremy Hunt, Boris Johnson or neither, writes Christine Williams.
Efforts were made to ask a mix of ages and gender and the voting was as follows: Jeremy Hunt, 47; Boris Johnson, 75; Neither, 97; Don’t know, 36.
Although not asked why they chose Hunt or Johnson many people offered the reasons for their choice. It was clear that Boris Johnson benefitted from being more high profile than Jeremy Hunt.
He was thought to be ‘a bit of a character’, ‘more forceful’ and better able to get the UK out of the EU. One man chose him because ‘he wouldn’t mind having a drink with him in a pub’.
Mr Hunt was seen as quieter and more thoughtful, though a former NHS nurse and the daughter of a doctor said after their experience of him as health secretary they could not possibly support him. On the other hand he was thought to be much more reliable and trustworthy than Mr Johnson who when foreign secretary had failed to impress several people.
Two people were sorry to lose Mrs May and one man wanted Donald Trump to be our Prime Minister! Both candidates were thought to be making unsustainable spending pledges and willing to say anything to attract the votes of the 160,000 Conservative Party members.
A number of people, especially younger ones, were ‘don’t knows’ and had only vague ideas of what the two candidates stood for, or said they knew nothing about politics and had no interest in it.
Mr Johnson had a greater percentage of support in Holsworthy where only 22 people voted for neither candidate compared with 75 in Bude. A majority, even of those who reluctantly voted for one of the candidates, did not consider either of the two men up to the job.