Tory leadership debate - snap verdict Sometimes in TV debates there are clear winners. It often happens in the first debate of a series, when viewers do not know what to expect, and it happened last week, when Rishi Sunak and Tom Tugendhat clearly made a better impression than the others. That was the consensus commentariat view, but also the finding of a snap poll too. But mostly debates just confirm impressions that are already fairly well lodged in the minds of people who already have a view on the candidates. They don’t “move the dial” much, although they do show how a candidate’s pitch might be evolving. Tonight’s came more into that category. Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt would be said to have done best - but only in the sense that they were most improved from last Friday, when they were both surprisingly unimpressive (Truss because she was wooden, Mordaunt because she was shallow). Truss admitted as much tonight, when she accepted she might not be the most polished of performers, but stressed her experience. She was much stronger against Sunak than she was on Friday. Mordaunt sounded more confident, but she is struggling to define herself clearly, or quash doubts about her inexperience. Tory polling suggests that, while she may have been very popular with members as the ‘None of the above’ candidate, once she is just the Penny Mordaunt candidate, it is less appealing. (See 6.36pm.) But Sunak probably did best on a more conventional assessment. He sounded the most polished and authoritative, and he has got through two debates now as the frontrunner in the parliamentary contest without being tripped up. For the second time in a row, he probably came off best in the economics debate with Truss by deploying a pithy soundbite. (See 9.10am.) His one-on-one question to Truss later was also the closest the debate came to real zinger. (See 7.43pm.) And Kemi Badenoch also did well because, of the three effective insurgent candidates (people who did not serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet), she is the most articulate, the least predictable, and the one with the most momentum. Notice how she was starting to adopt Sunak’s pitch on the economy, stressing that (like him) she considers tackling inflation the real challenge. On Friday Tugendhat was the candidate who sounded like he most represented a clean start and a breath of fresh air. But second time round that pitch did not have quite the same appeal, and he sounded like someone who expects to be out of the contest by this time tomorrow night. Evening summary Rishi Sunak accused his rival Conservative leadership candidates of promoting “socialism” by promising unfunded tax cuts, as the deep divisions in the party over economic policy were exposed in a bad-tempered televised debate. Here is my colleague Peter Walker’s assessment of the five takeaways from the debate. Labour has nothing to fear from any of the Conservative leadership candidates and their “arms race” of tax cut pledges, the shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said. The deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, has questioned Liz Truss’s record in government, as the acrimonious Conservative party leadership race that has set cabinet colleagues against each other enters a critical 72 hours. The Labour party has released this statement on tonight’s debate. It’s from Conor McGinn, a shadow Cabinet Office minister. Tonight’s debate has shown that the Conservative party is out of touch and out of ideas. As the contenders deny their own records in government and squabble over their fantasy economic plans, what families across the country who are really struggling with the cost-of-living crisis need is a fresh start. The ConservativeHome has now published the final results from its latest survey of party members. It suggests that Kemi Badenoch is now the candidate who could beat all others in the final ballot. As Paul Goodman, the ConservativeHome editor, explains in his write-up, the latest results also enable both Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch to argue that Tory rightwingers should unite behind them and put them on the final ballot. He says: The order of play is different from the result of our survey yesterday. There, Badenoch was top with 31 per cent, Truss second with 20 per cent, Mordaunt third with 18 per cent and Sunak fourth with 17 per cent. Here, Badenoch wins all four head-to-heads. Truss wins three and loses one. Sunak wins two and loses two. Mordaunt wins one and loses three. Tugendhat loses four. So Camp Truss, third in the parliamentary ballot, can argue on the evidence of this survey that she could beat the top two runners in a membership ballot – so her supporters should stick with her. And not desert to right-of-Tory-centre alternatives such as Badenoch. …And Camp Badenoch, fourth in that ballot, can say that on the evidence of this survey she can trounce all comers – including Sunak. So right-of-Tory-centre MPs should switch to her if they’re not backing her already. These figures, more than the debate, probably explain why bookmakers’ odds are shifting. See 9.08pm. Mike Smithson from the Political Betting website says the latest odds on who will win the Tory leadership contest imply that punters now view a Penny Mordaunt victory as less likely. Rishi Sunak was judged by viewers to have performed best in the debate, according to a snap poll by Opinium. This is from ITV’s political editor, Robert Peston. On Friday a similar snap poll for Opinium had Tom Tugendhat winning the Channel 4 News debate. Tory leadership debate - verdict from Twitter commentariat And this what some political commentators and journalists are saying about the debate on Twitter. There is no particular consensus, although overall Rishi Sunak is probably making the best impression. From the FT’s Sebastian Payne Tory leadership debate - snap verdict Sometimes in TV debates there are clear winners. It often happens in the first debate of a series, when viewers do not know what to expect, and it happened last week, when Rishi Sunak and Tom Tugendhat clearly made a better impression than the others. That was the consensus commentariat view, but also the finding of a snap poll too. But mostly debates just confirm impressions that are already fairly well lodged in the minds of people who already have a view on the candidates. They don’t “move the dial” much, although they do show how a candidate’s pitch might be evolving. Tonight’s came more into that category. Liz Truss and Penny Mordaunt would be said to have done best - but only in the sense that they were most improved from last Friday, when they were both surprisingly unimpressive (Truss because she was wooden, Mordaunt because she was shallow). Truss admitted as much tonight, when she accepted she might not be the most polished of performers, but stressed her experience. She was much stronger against Sunak than she was on Friday. Mordaunt sounded more confident, but she is struggling to define herself clearly, or quash doubts about her inexperience. Tory polling suggests that, while she may have been very popular with members as the ‘None of the above’ candidate, once she is just the Penny Mordaunt candidate, it is less appealing. (See 6.36pm.) But Sunak probably did best on a more conventional assessment. He sounded the most polished and authoritative, and he has got through two debates now as the frontrunner in the parliamentary contest without being tripped up. For the second time in a row, he probably came off best in the economics debate with Truss by deploying a pithy soundbite. (See 9.10am.) His one-on-one question to Truss later was also the closest the debate came to real zinger. (See 7.43pm.) And Kemi Badenoch also did well because, of the three effective insurgent candidates (people who did not serve in Boris Johnson’s cabinet), she is the most articulate, the least predictable, and the one with the most momentum. Notice how she was starting to adopt Sunak’s pitch on the economy, stressing that (like him) she considers tackling inflation the real challenge. On Friday Tugendhat was the candidate who sounded like he most represented a clean start and a breath of fresh air. But second time round that pitch did not have quite the same appeal, and he sounded like someone who expects to be out of the contest by this time tomorrow night. It is now time for closing statements. Sunak says he thinks he is the best candidate to beat Labour. The stakes are high, and only he has the experience needed to deal with this. Britain’s potential is limitless. He wants to give your children and grandchildren a better future. Mordaunt says well done if you are still watching. She wishes this had been more about you, and less about the candidates. The model for politics is broken. She has a plan to fix it, she says. Tugendhat says the country is facing problems at home and abroad. They need a clean start. They need to restore confidence. He is ready to serve, he says. Truss says the Tories only have two years to show the public they can deliver. She has shown what she can do on Brexit, trade and Ukraine. They need to stop apologising as Conservatives. Badenoch says she is the candidate who will tell you the truth. She has three children. She wants the best future for them. She wants to create a strong future. The UK is a beacon. That is why so many people want to come here. She is the candidate for the future. She can make the change. And that’s it. The debate is over. Asked if they would favour an early general election, all five candidates say they are opposed. They are now talking about climate change, and the net zero target. Badenoch says if there are things in the plan that would harm people, she would change them. Truss says she backs the net zero target. But she would get rid of green levies. Sunak says he supports the target. But they need to bring people with them, and not take them too far, too fast, he says