• Nearly twice as many Conservative voters say they trust Liz Truss to fix the issue of social care compared to Rishi Sunak

• But over a third doubt either candidate can finally end the decades-long wait for reform

Fresh polling from retirement specialist Just Group finds that Conservative voters in the 2019 election are backing Liz Truss as the leadership candidate most likely to uphold the government’s promise to fix social care.

When asked which of the two leadership candidates they trust most to the fix the issue of social care in the UK, four in 10 (40%) Tory voters picked Truss with under a quarter (23%) opting for Rishi Sunak.

There was a strikingly high proportion – over a third (37%) – of Tory voters who think neither candidate will uphold the government’s promise to fix the issue once and for all – fifteen percentage points higher than those backing Sunak and just shy of the support enjoyed by Truss.

The findings indicate a deeply divided Conservative voter base despite the hard-won settlement on social care tabled by Boris Johnson’s government – including both Truss and Sunak – less than a year ago.

Stephen Lowe, group communications director at retirement specialist Just Group, said: “The reforms proposed under a year ago by Boris Johnson, and agreed by his government, finally broke decades of deadlock and delay around the issue of social care.

“They outlined a sensible, workable solution that would allow families to plan their later-life care, look after their loved ones and put in place the necessary financial arrangements. At last, there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“That over a third of the Party’s own voter-base do not believe either candidate can achieve the long-awaited and much-needed reform in the social care system is discouraging, but understandable given many may be feeling a strong sense of having seen it all before.

“People need to feel confident in the system to plan and the new Prime Minister must not break public trust further with a change of tack. We urge the leadership contest winner to commit to honouring the promises on social care they made while in government less than a year ago.”

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About the research

1: Just Group, Polling conducted by Opinium between 29th July and 2nd August 2022 with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 – of which 689 said that they voted Conservative in the 2019 General Election.

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