- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
IT seems Liz Truss is now emerging as the favourite in the intense contest with Rishi Sunak to become the next prime minister of Britain. According to UK-based betting exchange company Smarkets, the foreign secretary has a whopping 90 per cent chance of becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party and the premier as the race enters its final leg, Bloomberg reported.
Truss and Sunak, who is of South Asian origin, are currently caught in a six-week tour of hustings around the UK for votes of around 175,000 Tory members. According to Smarkets, Sunak’s chances of becoming the prime minister have gone down to just 10 per cent.
The new prime minister’s name will be unveiled on September 5.
“When the race first narrowed down to the final two, Truss was rated a 60-40 favourite to win, but the odds have continued to move in her favour,” Matthew Shaddick, head of political markets at Smarkets, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “Many were forecasting that Rishi Sunak would be a better campaigner, but Truss’s debate performances have beaten expectations,” it added.
According to a poll of 507 Tory party members, Truss, who has pledged to slash taxes after becoming the prime minister, was the better performer in a BBC television debate with Sunak held earlier this week.
Bloomberg added that the foreign secretary is odds-on with other sites as well. She is 1/8 at Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill, as per Oddschecker. Sunak, on the other hand, is lagging way behind at 6/1 with Sky.
While odds from betting on politics do not give a definite picture, they suggest the way in which the wind is blowing in a contest which is witnessing rapid changes.
