LIVE - Updated at 17:11
Fewer than a fifth of Tory members believe that Rishi Sunak could win the party a majority at the next general election, according to a new poll.
The survey by YouGov found the Conservative faithful were doubtful of a major electoral success.
The figures for former chancellor Mr Sunak are most stark, with just 19 per cent of those polled suggesting the "most likely" result after the next election would be a Conservative majority in the Commons.
Thirty-three per cent thought the most likely scenario was a hung parliament with a Tory-led government while 23 opted for a Labour-led government and 14 per cent for a Labour majority - the first in over a decade.
Earlier, a YouGov poll has put Liz Truss well ahead of her rival Rishi Sunak in support from party members, with her lead increasing to 34 points.
Mr Sunak appears to have lost significant ground as 60 per cent of the party members polled between 29 July and 2 August say they intend to vote for the foreign secretary.
Dire predictions throw a harsh spotlight on RPI inflation, which the ONS calls a bad measure and which could hit 18 per cent, writes James Moore
Geri should consider a political career. Her backstory is classic Tory fare: of private success leading to the green benches, writes Salma Shah
Read Salma's full piece here:
Spice up your life: Why doesn't Geri Halliwell run for PM? | Salma Shah
UK chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will stand down at the end of his five year term in April, it has been announced.
Sir Patrick played a leading role in guiding the country through the Covid pandemic and often appeared at live TV briefings.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said: "It is impossible to fully convey the impact that Sir Patrick has had as chief scientific adviser.
"He will be missed by all when he leaves next year and I wish him the very best in all future endeavours."
In winning the Tory leadership election, the new PM is in danger of losing the next general election, writes our politics commentator, Andrew Grice.
Read Andrew's full piece here:
Opinion: Liz Truss is the 'continuity chaos' as well as 'continuity Boris' candidate
England's Lionesses have written to Tory leadership hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak demanding that girls are offered the same opporunities to play football as boys in schools.
It comes after figures revealed that just 63 per cent of girls were being offered football lessons in PE classes across the country.
In their letter, the Lionesses' say that their win over Germany in the Euro final on Sunday night was "only the beginning".
"We want every young girl in the nation to be able to play football at school," they add.
Read the letter in full below:
"We see this as only the beginning."
An open letter from our #Lionesses... pic.twitter.com/Ty9kA7zgGa
Inflation could hit an eye-watering 15 per cent next year, experts are warning.
It comes as the Bank of England prepares to hike interest rates in a bid to tackle rising prices.
Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said the outlook for inflation is "highly uncertain", and largely driven by unpredictable gas prices.
Our economics correspondent Ben Chapman reports:
Inflation to hit 'astronomical' 15% next year as households face £3,600 energy bills
Liz Truss declined to answer a question on why she binned rather than reshaped a policy to cut costs across Whitehall.
Asked why completely scrapped the plans, she said: "I'm very clear we are not proceeding with this policy," she told reporters in Ludlow, Shropshire ahead of a hustings events in Wales later.
"What's important to me is that we support people at this difficult economic time by reversing the national insurance rise, by getting rid of the green energy levy to save people money on their fuel bills.
"That will be my focus as prime minister."
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has criticised China's "inflammatory" response to a senior US politician's visit to Taiwan.
Tensions with China have been heightened by US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi visiting the island.
Beijing responded by announcing multiple military exercises around the island, parts of which will enter Taiwanese waters.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments.
Ms Truss, speaking on a Conservative Party leadership campaign visit in Ludlow, Shropshire, said: "I do not support China's inflammatory language on this issue.
"It's perfectly reasonable what is taking place and I urge China to de-escalate."
The UK needs to work out a plan "now" on how to responding to the increasing threat China poses to Taiwan, a Tory MP has said.
Bob Seely, a member of the inter-parliamentary Alliance on China, says Russia's war in Ukraine should serve a warning.
"We've seen what happens when you allow authoritarian states to get away with doing things which are very bad for the international order".
More comments below:
"We should be learning from the Russian experience, not thinking it's a one-off, because it isn't."@IoWBobSeely says the West will have to take action on Taiwan to prevent it's "subjugation" by China on #TimesRadio. pic.twitter.com/oQEO6aBbum
Parliament has shut its TikTok account after MPs raised concerns about the social media firm's Chinese links.
A number of MPs hit by Chinese sanctions for speaking out against "gross human rights violations" had protested against the recent creation of the social media account.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to include the "vilification of the United Kingdom" into an official definition of extremism.
In a series of policy proposals on terrorism, the Conservative leadership candidate also claimed he would "refocus" the Prevent programme on Islamist extremism.
Our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden reports:
Rishi Sunak wants to define 'vilification of the UK' as extremism
Fewer than a fifth of Tory members believe that Rishi Sunak could win the party a majority at the next general election, according to a new poll.
The survey by YouGov found the Conservative faithful were doubtful of a major electoral success.
The figures for Mr Sunak - the former chancellor - are most stark, with just 19 per cent of those polled suggesting the "most likely" result after the next election would be a Conservative majority in the Commons.
Thirty-three per cent thought the most likely scenario was a hung parliament with a Tory-led government while 23 opted for a Labour-led government and 14 per cent for a Labour majority - the first in over a decade.
Our politics correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports:
Under fifth of Tory members say 'most likely' scenario is a Tory majority under Sunak
The former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has criticised the west for arming Ukraine, arguing that its military support will prolong the war.
My colleague Rory Sullivan reports:
Jeremy Corbyn criticises West for 'pouring arms into Ukraine'
As ballot papers go out to members, Andrew Grice looks at the race so far and assesses who seems to be heading for 10 Downing Street
Read Andrew's full piece here:
The Tory leadership contest is a fork-in-the-road moment for the party
Former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Cruddas called for the leadership contest to be halted in response to the cyber security concerns.
Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch, who has led a campaign for Boris Johnson's name to be on the ballot, suggested the prime minister's resignation should be rejected and he should stay on until any security issues are resolved.
In a letter to chief executive Darren Mott and the party's board published on the Conservative Post website, Lord Cruddas said: "The board should reject the resignation of the Prime Minister and ask him to stay on whilst the board fixes any cyber issues and the leadership campaign can be revisited in due course."
Party members should be allowed to decide "on a simple yes/no ballot to accept the prime minister's resignation going forward", he suggested.
"If the members vote to keep Boris then there is no need for a leadership campaign and no more cyber security threats."
Rishi Sunak has vowed to create a second freeport in Wales if he wins the Tory Party leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson.
The pledge comes ahead of a hustings event in Cardiff where he and rival Liz Truss will be questioned by Conservative members on their respective plans for government.
The UK and Welsh governments agreed in May to locate a freeport in Wales.
But Mr Sunak said he wants to see another one, "bringing with it investment, innovation and growth".
Freeports are special areas with tax breaks and different customs rules on offer to encourage business investment.
Liz Truss is now 1-14 to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, according to one bookmaker's latest odds.
Former chancellor Rishi Sunak is now 15-2 to win the vote with the Tory members, Coral said.
Coral's John Hill said: "Our betting firmly suggests Liz Truss is set to win the Conservative leadership election and become the next prime minister.
"The odds indicate she has a 93 per cent chance of beating Rishi Sunak, following strong support behind her over the last 24 hours," said Coral's John Hill.
It is right that the West "stays firm" on defending democracy in Taiwan, Brandon Lewis has said.
His comments came after the visit of top Democrat and US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi to Tapei sparked outrage in Beijing.
Asked if foreign secretary Liz Truss believes that Taiwan should be supplied with defensive weapons, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think one of the things we've seen with Ukraine is the fact that it's important that we are supporting sovereign democracies, that's something we've got to do.
"I think it is right that we in the West stay firm and strong against some of the pressures we see from (Vladimir) Putin's regime, but also actually some of the challenges that we're seeing from China, and, as somebody who's been the security minister before, I've seen the growth in the economic power (and pressure) of China - it's something that we need to be aware of."
John Rentoul, The Independent's chief politics commentator, has been speaking to Talk TV this morning about the Tory leadership contest.
He said he believes that Truss's comments on Nicola Sturgeon, her U-turn on Whitehall spending cuts and tough rhetoric towards the EU show she "is not going to be a success" as prime minister.
More comments from John below:
The Independent's chief political commentator John Rentoul criticises Liz Truss for labelling Nicola Sturgeon an 'attention seeker' in her calls for a second independence referendum.
"She is not going to be a success as a Prime Minister."@TVKev | @JohnRentoul pic.twitter.com/Mmi2ykaSgf
Liz Truss's binned policy to slash civil service spending may have been drafted up to cover the cost of her "£61bn" in spending commitments, a minister has suggested.
Gillian Keegan, the care minister and Sunak supporter, spoke to LBC earlier and insisted the former chancellor can still win the race to replace Boris Johnson.
On Ms Truss's U-turn on her "war on Whitehall waste" campaign, Ms Keegan added: "I think Liz. so far has clocked up.about £61bn of spending commitments.
"So I guess they are trying to find out where that's going to come from."
Tory MP David Davis has also been out on the broadcast round, batting for Rishi Sunak, who he is supporting in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
He defended the former chancellor's apparent U-turn on cutting taxes, saying Mr Sunak had pledged from the beginning to "make a judgement" on whether or not to provide more help with energy bills.
More comments from Mr Davis's interview with Sky News below:
David Davis laughs off the idea that Rishi Sunak MP should be worried following a YouGov poll suggesting Liz Truss MP has extended her lead.
He adds that Liz Truss can't afford to make errors. https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
?? Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/UyUizBaUJX
As we've been reporting Brandon Lewis, who is supporting Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest, has been out on the broadcast this morning.
Mr Lewis, the former Northern Ireland secretary, says the foreign secretay has "huge credentials" when it comes to defending the Union.
"Actually, keeping the Union together is again an area where Liz Truss has got huge credentials," he told Sky News.
"We had a referendum, now we're all a few years older, but there's not been a generational change just yet, and that was always clear, and the SNP were, that that was a once-in-a-generation.
"That decision has been made. What we should all be focused on, including the SNP, is how we improve the lives of people in Scotland."
Mr Lewis also defended Ms Truss's decision to U-turn on her "war on Whitehall waste" campaign.
More comments below:
Brandon Lewis MP is asked about the regional pay policy proposal which the Truss team announced and then scrapped within 14 hours.
They claimed it would save £9bn by paying people less if they lived somewhere less expensivehttps://t.co/TQtTJ79Duo
?? Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/LIDmqNC4E4
A former Treasury minister who worked under George Osborne has criticised Liz Truss's "endless crazy tax cut" plans and described her now abandoned regional pay proposals as "laughable".
The scathing comments from Jim O'Neill - a crossbench peer and economist - comes after the foreign secretary dropped a major policy barely 12 hours after it was launched after facing a significant backlash, writes Ashley Cowburn.
The foreign secretary had proposed a £8.8 billion "war on Whitehall waste" that included plans to introduce regional pay boards for civil servants and could have led to cuts in public sector wages outside the southeast.
Former Treasury minister hits out at Truss's 'endless crazy tax cuts'
On last night's mammoth lead for Liz Truss, her spokesperson has said: "We have great momentum and Liz's message of economic growth, low taxes and her ability to deliver from day one is resonating with members.
"We are not complacent and will continue to fight for every single vote. Liz is out across the country meeting as many members as possible and showing why she is the candidate who will deliver on our 2019 manifesto promises, unleash the full opportunities of Brexit and unite the Party."
Brandon Lewis MP has accused Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak of "flip flopping around on about nine different" policy ideas.
A supporter of Liz Truss, the former Northern Ireland secretary said Ms Truss is "determined to do the right thing" even "when it is difficult".
Liz Truss supporter Brandon Lewis MP accuses Rishi Sunak of "flip flopping around on about nine different" policy ideas, adding Ms Truss is "determined to do the right thing" even "when it is difficult".https://t.co/ZTbv6x8cal
?? Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/D6CjHo9klf
Tory MP David Davis, who is supporting Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, told Sky News that Liz Truss's team "didn't think through" the proposed policy of restricting public sector workers' pay and consequent U-turn.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, he said: "They started by accusing journalists of misrepresenting it, and the journalists then quite properly read back their press statement - it was very, very obvious. And now they are accusing us of misrepresenting it.
"No. This is what they said. The people who misrepresented them was themselves. They didn't think through."
He added that in order to save £8.8 billion by salary restriction, it "needs to be a very, very big set of salaries, and the only way you can do that is including all public sector workers".
He continued: "This is a dress rehearsal for being a prime minister. You can't afford to make those sorts of judgmental errors."
Tory MP David Davis, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, has played down the significance of recent polls showing Liz Truss as the clear frontrunner.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, he said: "To be fair to the polls, these are difficult to do - how do you find Tory members? You know we don't publish their names. You ring someone up - 'Are you a Tory member?', 'Well, I voted Tory so that makes me a Tory member', 'No, it doesn't'."
Mr Davis said the poll that does count is the one which comes in after around August 11 when people start sending their ballots in.
He added that the polls which came out on Wednesday were taken before Liz Truss's U-turn on restricting public sector workers' salaries.
"I think the public will come to a view on judgment on that," he said. "It's very, very important in this process."
Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, who is backing Liz Truss, said "there was never any risk to the pay of the brilliant public sector".
Asked about the Truss campaign abandoning a flagship policy to slash £8.8 billion from public sector pay outside London, he told Times Radio: "You do see during leadership campaigns obviously people putting out ideas - we've seen Rishi Sunak's team have put out eight or nine different things that they've changed around.
"The reality of yesterday is, what Liz was outlining was part of a package of dealing with Whitehall waste. We all want to see that dealt with, it's part of a programme of work actually to get the Civil Service - it's grown by about 91,000 just in the last few years, back down to levels where we're using taxpayers' money efficiently and effectively.
"What Liz was looking at yesterday and what the campaign was looking at is what you do in new contracts as people come in, but look, she made it very clear yesterday, we're not taking this forward, this isn't something that's going to happen and we value obviously all of the work - and there was never any risk to the pay of the brilliant public sector who've done so well through the Covid period and the challenges that we've seen over the last couple of years."
A YouGov poll puts Liz Truss well ahead of Mr Sunak in support from party members, with her lead increasing to 34 points.
It shows 60 per cent of the party members polled between July 29 and August 2 say they intend to vote for the foreign secretary, up from 49 per cent since the period July 20 to 21 when the rivals first made the cut for the final two.
Support for Mr Sunak, the former chancellor, has dropped from 31 per cent to 26 per cent according to YouGov, while the rest of the 1,043 Conservative party members polled say they are undecided or will not vote.
In a further blow to Mr Sunak, YouGov data also showed 83 per cent of those who currently say they intend to vote for Ms Truss also say they have made up their mind.
Just 17 per cent say they might change their mind while 29 per cent of Mr Sunak's supporters say they could still vote differently.
But the Sunak campaign will be hoping the additional time to make their case before the first votes are cast will fall in their favour.
Labour's national campaign coordinator has said the party is making "very solid progress" under Sir Keir Starmer.
Shabana Mahmood MP told Sky News that the Labour leader has achieved in two years what Neil Kinnock did in eight by making the Labour Party "electorally competitive again".
'We are making very solid progress'
Labour's National Campaign Coordinator @ShabanaMahmood says Sir Keir Starmer has achieved in two years what Neil Kinnock did in eight by making the Labour Party "electorally competitive again".https://t.co/ZTbv6x8cal
?? Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/OKJHYVe3pd
Labour's national campaign coordinator, Shabana Mahmood MP says Lisa Nandy's picket line visit was very different from what Sam Tarry MP did because he broke "collective responsibility".
The shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy was pictured in Wigan, where she is the local MP, by the North West regional secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) Carl Webb.
Last week shadow minister Sam Tarry was fired hours after he appeared on a picket line.
Labour's national campaign coordinator, Shabana Mahmood MP says Lisa Nandy's actions were very different from what Sam Tarry MP did as he broke 'collective responsibility'.
Read more here https://t.co/cL1S0pxnXd
?? Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/JL3dwwnmQ6
A YouGov poll show 60 per cent of Conservative party members polled between 29 July and 2 August show that they intend to vote for foreign secretary Liz Truss as the new prime minister.
In an additional poll, 40 per cent of the voters said they would prefer Boris Johnson over both Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.
A Labour MP unfairly dismissed his aide and ex-girlfriend after she felt "marginalised and isolated" in the months leading up to her losing her job, a tribunal has found.
Elaina Cohen accused Birmingham Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood of sacking her after she raised concerns with him under whistleblowing regulations about a fellow staffer who she claimed was a "criminal abuser".
Mr Mahmood maintained Ms Cohen was instead fired for breaking protocols of parliamentary office and sending him "derogatory" and "offensive" emails, one of which described him as a "first class idiot", which was forwarded to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
My colleague Isobel Frodsham has more:
Labour MP unfairly sacked senior adviser who called him 'first class idiot'
Liz Truss has agreed to face questions from a GB News audience as she continues her campaign for the Tory leadership.
The foreign secretary has agreed to take questions live from an audience in Leigh, Greater Manchester, a so-called red wall seat.
The People's Forum With Liz Truss will be broadcast live on GB News at 5pm on 10 August and is due to last an hour.
The channel said it has also invited Rishi Sunak, Ms Truss's rival for the Tory leadership, to take part in a similar event on a separate night.
Ms Truss said: "I am looking forward to talking to GB News viewers and our members in the heart of our red wall and taking their questions.
"As prime minister, I will work tirelessly to deliver for those who voted for us across the red wall, including those who put their trust in us for the first time in 2019."
Read more in this report:
Liz Truss to face GB News audience for live questions
Prime minister Boris Johnson is to begin a summer holiday today, weeks before his tenure in office comes to an end.
Though Downing Street has not shared details on where Mr Johnson would be spending his vacation, the prime minister's official spokesperson said that he will remain in charge of the country and be receiving required updates.
Mr Johnson will not have long left in office upon his return, with Tory leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak currently vying to replace him in No 10 on 6 September.
Asked who will be in charge while Mr Johnson is away, the prime minister's official spokesman said: "It will be the standard pattern.
"The prime minister will be updated as required... the deputy prime minister and, as ever with a cabinet government, other ministers will be on hand to support as needed."
Read the details in this report:
Boris Johnson going on summer holiday less than five weeks before leaving No 10
Conservative leadership contender Liz Truss has dumped plans to cut the pay of public sector workers outside London and the south east after a massive backlash against the policy from Tory MPs.
Critics within her own party accused the foreign secretary of planning to make millions of nurses, police officers and teachers poorer.
Conservative Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, who is backing Ms Truss's opponent Rishi Sunak, said he was "actually speechless" at her pitch to party members choosing the next prime minister.
The proposal was a "ticking time bomb" that risked costing the party the next general election, he said.
Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, also referred to Theresa May's general election campaign when the former prime minister infamously u-turned on her proposals for social care - dubbed the "dementia tax".
Kate Devlin and Ashley Cowburn report:
Liz Truss U-turns on public sector pay cut in just 12 hours
MLAs will gather at Stormont in the latest attempt to restore the devolved powersharing institutions in Northern Ireland.
However, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's Democratic Unionist Party will again block the election of an Assembly speaker, meaning no further business can be done.
The SDLP, which has brought the recall motion, said the plenary session would serve as a challenge to the DUP to get back to work.
The Stormont institutions have been in flux since February when the DUP withdrew its first minister from the devolved executive, calling for the UK Government to act on the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
The party has remained firm, resisting a number of attempts to resuscitate the powersharing institutions until it sees progress from the Westminster Government in removing trading barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Read the details here:
MLAs to gather in latest attempt to elect Stormont speaker
Scottish Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater said she was "terrified" by the Conservative leadership candidates' approach to the economy.
It comes after Liz Truss performed a U-turn following an announcement that she would cut public sector pay by £8.8 billion outside of London on Tuesday.
Following criticism from fellow Conservatives, including Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen - who is backing Rishi Sunak and said he had been left "actually speechless" by Ms Truss's proposal and suggested it would have cost the party the next general election if it was implemented.
Ms Truss abandoned the policy, claiming it had been "misrepresented".
Ms Slater said both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss had "disrespected" the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking to BBC Scotland's The Nine on Tuesday evening, she said: "I'm honestly terrified by the Tory leadership candidates' approach to the economy and to the cost-of-living crisis.
Their cruel cuts. Their cruel deportations, and their disrespect of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish people are making an excellent case for independence and how Scotland would be better as an independent European country.
Read the details in this report:
Lorna Slater 'terrified' by Tory leadership candidates' approach to economy
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has doubled down on Liz Truss's personal attack on the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, claiming she's "always moaning" and "quite often wrong".
It comes after the foreign secretary - the frontrunner in the Tory leadership contest - said it is best to "ignore" the SNP leader as she dismissed demands for a second Scottish independence referendum.
Tory members in the audience at the hustings event in Exeter cheered and applauded the comment, with Ms Truss adding: "She's an attention-seeker, that's what she is".
The remarks were seized on by SNP politicians, who accused Ms Truss of showing "contempt" for voters north of the border while simultaneously making the case for an independent Scotland.
Our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports:
Jacob Rees-Mogg claims Nicola Sturgeon 'often wrong' and 'always moaning'
As ballot papers go out to members, our political columnist Andrew Grice looks at the race so far and assesses who seems to be heading for 10 Downing Street.
The Tory leadership contest is a fork-in-the-road moment for the party
Liz Truss suffered a setback in her campaign to become prime minister on Tuesday after she abandoned a major policy barely 12 hours after it was launched.
The Tory leadership frontrunner was forced into a U-turn on plans to cut the pay of public sector workers in poorer areas after a revolt from her own party.
Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley who is backing her opponent Rishi Sunak, suggested it could be a "dementia tax moment" for Ms Truss - a reference to Theresa May's disastrous 2017 general election campaign misstep.
Ms Truss tried to blame the media, insisting her proposals to cut the pay of teachers and nurses had been misrepresented.
Read the details in this joint report from Kate Devlin and Ashley Cowburn:
Truss campaign dealt a blow with 'full-fat U-turn' over regional pay cuts
A Labour MP unfairly dismissed his aide and ex-girlfriend after she felt "marginalised and isolated" in the months leading up to her losing her job, a tribunal has found.
Elaina Cohen accused Birmingham Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood of sacking her after she raised concerns with him under whistleblowing regulations about a fellow staffer who she claimed was a "criminal abuser".
Mr Mahmood maintained Ms Cohen was instead fired for breaking protocols of parliamentary office and sending him "derogatory" and "offensive" emails, one of which described him as a "first class idiot", which was forwarded to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Following a six-day hearing in London in May, the tribunal found Ms Cohen was unfairly dismissed.
Read the details in this report from Isobel Frodsham:
Labour MP unfairly sacked senior adviser who called him 'first class idiot'
Rishi Sunak appears to have lost ground in the Tory leadership race but a reported ballot delivery delay over security concerns could give him more time to make an impression before votes are cast.
A YouGov poll puts Liz Truss well ahead of Mr Sunak in support from party members, with her lead increasing to 34 points.
Despite the ex-chancellor having secured the backing of significantly more Tory MPs in the early stages of the contest, the deciding ballots are being sent out this week to the more staunchly right-wing party faithful, who have long favoured the foreign secretary.
New polling by YouGov now suggests that 60 per cent of Tory members intend to choose Ms Truss to replace Boris Johnson as prime minister - compared to just 26 per cent who want Mr Sunak in Downing Street.
More in this report from Andy Gregory:
Liz Truss opens up 34-point lead over Rishi Sunak in new poll
The Conservative Party leadership race will observe about a week of delay in voting after GCHQ warned about potential vulnerabilities in the voting system.
In the general warning, it did not make any specific mention of the hostile countries such as China, Iran or Russia, that could be accused of meddling with the member's ballot.
But the change of plan means postal ballots will arrive at the addresses of about 160,000 Tory members as late as 11 August, after they were previously meant to be sent out from Monday.
My colleague Lamiat Sabin has more:
Voting in Tory leadership contest delayed after GCHQ hacking warning
Welcome to the UK politics blog for 3 August 2022 where we provide you with the latest on the Tory leadership contest.