RISHI Sunak looks to have taken a slim lead against Conservative leadership rival Liz Truss in Hampshire.

A poll of Conservative MPs, councillors and members throughout Hampshire shows Mr Sunak may have drummed up more support than his Tory counterpart.

Both are vying for leadership of the Conservative Party – and subsequently the job of prime minister.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted almost 100 Conservatives from across Portsmouth and the rest of Hampshire, to gauge the level of support for each candidate.

Of those who responded, 58.5 per cent of members have cast their vote for Rishi Sunak.

The rest voted for Liz Truss, while a handful either refused to take part or did not respond.

Both candidates visited Hampshire during their campaign.

Liz Truss, who received the backing of Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt after the latter was knocked out of the running, attended a members-only event at the Queen’s Hotel in Southsea last month.

Rishi Sunak, who was born in Southampton and attended Winchester College as a youngster, held an address at the Robin Hood pub in Durley last week.

With Ms Mordaunt’s public backing of Truss, many Portsmouth Conservatives have joined her in casting their vote in this direction.

In surrounding towns, support was more divided between Truss and Sunak, with an overall favouring towards the former chancellor.

Many politicians who spoke about their vote added that they would have voted for Penny Mordaunt, had she been an option in the final two.

One councillor described choosing between Truss and Sunak as ‘picking between the lesser of two evils.’

A handful of councillors also lamented the departure of outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson – stating that their preference would have been for him to remain in power.

Leader of the Conservatives in Gosport, Councillor Graham Burgess, described Mr Johnson as being ‘stabbed in the back’ by his colleagues.

The polls closed at 5pm today, with the result being announced by Sir Graham Brady – chairman of the 1922 Committee, on Monday at 12.30pm.

Whoever wins the vote will likely become prime minister the following day, after a meeting with Her Majesty The Queen where they formally request to form government.