Fewer than half of Tory supporters believe the candidates have solutions to the upheaval caused by a rise in the average annual gas and electricity bill, which will jump to £3,549 in October and is forecast to reach £5,300 in January . Worryingly for Mrs Truss – who is the overwhelming favorite to replace Boris Johnson – just 48 per cent of Tories back her as a candidate to cut emergency living costs. That number puts her narrowly ahead of Mr. Sunak, who is supported on that measure by 44 percent. Among the general public, 57 per cent are “not sure” the foreign secretary has a plan for the economy – more than the 55 per cent who reject the former chancellor’s ability to act, according to the Savanta Comres poll. Pessimism about the future is revealed as the current chancellor has piled pressure on opponents by warning that even people earning around £45,000 – 50 per cent more than the average wage – will need significant help to manage their energy bills. “My concern is that there are those who don’t have benefits,” said Nadhim Zahawi, following suggestions that Ms Truss may want to offer targeted support only to the poorest. “If you’re a senior nurse or a senior teacher on £45,000 a year, you’ve got your energy bills going up by 80 per cent and [they] it will probably go even higher in the new year – it’s really tough.” Cornwall Insight, the data analysts who came closest to predicting the exact level of the October cap, warned of further big price rises next year, saying: “There seems to be no ceiling on where they have to go.” A senior Tory spokesman, Robert Halfon, backed a growing campaign for a so-called “social tariff” for lower income groups, which would provide ongoing discounts to those most affected and be funded by general taxation. And the Labor chairman of the Commons business committee, Darren Jones, predicted the incoming government would be forced to offer blanket handouts because it lacked the data and IT systems to target aid effectively. The Independent’s poll also reveals public frustration with the focus of the two-month leadership contest and how it has played out as the cost of living crisis grows. Both candidates declined to lay out detailed policies to reduce the bills, in a contest that instead focused on tax cuts as well as taking hostile positions on asylum seekers and climate change. Both candidates attacked solar and wind farms, which are needed to boost renewable energy, while pledging to step up efforts to deport asylum seekers. In addition, Ms Truss has supported secondary schools and fracking. Nearly six in 10 respondents (57 percent) say the campaign has not focused on the issues most important to them, while only 33 percent say it has. And some 62 per cent say the contest has focused too much on Conservative Party members rather than the wider public, while just 15 per cent say the balance is right. Even Conservative voters strongly reject the substance of the debate: 60 per cent say it has leaned too much towards the priorities of the party’s base rather than the priorities of the wider public. Almost two-thirds of voters (63 percent) say the contest – with twelve parties, the last of which takes place next Wednesday – was too long, with only 20 percent saying it was the right length. In the vacuum left by the absence of policy – as Mr Johnson rejected calls to rally the candidates to hammer out a solution – almost half of voters say they are cutting back on food, fuel and clothing. The poll finds 56 per cent of voters think Mr Johnson was wrong to raise the issue and leave it to his successor, including 46 per cent of Conservative supporters. Labour’s £29bn plan to freeze energy bills over the winter is the most popular of the policies so far designed to ease the pain of soaring costs, backed by 79 per cent of respondents . But the policy most likely to be adopted by either Ms Truss or Mr Sunak – targeted government support for those most affected – is not far behind, at 69%. About 64 percent of voters support the tax cuts, Ms. Truss’ flagship policy, despite experts pointing out that they will overwhelmingly benefit the rich and offer little help to the poor. Mr Halfon, the chairman of the education committee, warned that local businesses in his Essex seat are unable to pay energy bills which are almost tripling and schools are unable to pay their staff. “So what the government needs to do is introduce a social tariff for the vulnerable and those who are ‘just getting by’,” he told GB News. “And we also need a tariff for small businesses, because even though big businesses can absorb this, small businesses can’t.” Mr Jones said the government had “backed itself into a corner” by taking so long to introduce an aid package. “They need to be able to get money out the door quickly to help people before October, and Labor policy is the best way to do that,” he argued. Robert Buckley, of Cornwall Insight, told Times Radio that prices could “go up and up”, warning: “Market prices are getting higher and higher. The prices are absolutely incredible.” Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,234 UK adults aged 18+ online between 19 and 21 August. Results were weighted to be representative of the population.
