48 vs 43: Race to 10 Downing Street now closer than thought, poll says

Liz Truss is backed by 48% of Conservatives compared with former FM Sunak's 43%, according to a new poll; voting delayed after hacking alert

Foreign minister Liz Truss, the frontrunner to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has a smaller lead over her rival Rishi Sunak than previously thought, according to a poll of party members.

Truss is backed by 48 per cent of Conservative Party members compared with 43 per cent for former finance minister Sunak, according to the poll of 807 people by Italian data company Techne, carried out July 19-27.

This suggests a much tighter race than a previous poll of Conservative members carried out by YouGov on July 20-21 that showed Truss with a 24-point lead over Sunak.

Sunak and Truss are competing