Sunak is the best choice the Tories could have made – but Labour can still beat him | Jonathan Freedland

Keir Starmer may have preferred to face Mordaunt or Johnson, but the new prime minister has plenty of vulnerabilities

Publicly, they said they feared no one. When Labour MPs were asked a week ago which of the three would-be successors to Liz Truss looked hardest to defeat, they shrugged off the question, insisting that Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak were all as weak and beatable as each other. But whatever the outward show, the truth is Labour got the Conservative leader that, at first glance, they had good reason to dread.

The evidence has been swift. On Thursday a poll showed that Sunak is more trusted on the economy, as well as on taxes and business, than Keir Starmer. When asked who they'd prefer as prime minister, it was close, but more voters went for Sunak. Never mind that the survey had Labour comfortably ahead of the Conservatives overall: the economy and leadership are reliably the two key determinants of general elections - and on both measures Sunak has the edge.