Rishi Sunak’s popularity among grassroots Tories has crashed to a record low, as a major study revealed he is now faring worse than Liz Truss with the wider electorate, writes The Time.

“The prime minister is by far the least popular member of his cabinet, with an approval rating of -25.4, according to Conservative Home.

It marks a dramatic fall from grace for Sunak, who was expected to turn the party’s fortunes around after Truss’s premiership. And it comes after a disastrous month for the PM, in which his flagship Rwanda asylum policy was rejected by the Supreme Court and he faced a growing backlash over record high migration.

An in-depth study by JL Partners found Sunak has presided over a “year of decline” leading to an “implosion” in the Tory vote, leaving Labour on course to win the next general election. Just 59% of voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 under Boris Johnson are sticking with the party under Sunak, the report, seen by Bloomberg, found. That was down from 74% last August and 63% following Truss’s disastrous “mini-budget” in September 2022.