Trump would make a good British prime minister, say Conservative Party members

• Conservative Party members think Donald Trump would make a good British prime minister.
• 54% back the US president as a potential leader, with 43% disagreeing.
• The poll found the Tory membership, which is about to choose the UK's next leader, shares Trump's view of the world on issues such as crime and religion.
• Tory members want the return of the death penalty and believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life.

The 160,000 Conservative Party members who are about to pick Britain's next prime minister, would back president Donald Trump for the job, according to a new poll.

The YouGov poll of Conservative party members for Channel 4, found that 54% believed Trump would make a good prime minister, as opposed to 43% who disagreed.

The poll paints a stark picture of the views of the Tory electorate, on issues of crime, race, religion and sexuality, which is close to that of Trump himself.

It found that:

• 58% of Tory members would like the return of the death penalty.
• 56% believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life.
• 42% believe having people from a wide variety of racial and cultural backgrounds has damaged British society.
• 46% believe concerns about climate change have been exaggerated.
• 49% believe schools should not be required to teach children about LGBT relationships.

Channel 4 will on Monday evening air an episode of Dispatches looking at Islamophobia in the Conservative party.

It will cite social media comments made by Conservative party members, including one member of the Boris Johnson supporters group on Facebook who wrote: "I would ban all Muslim (sic) from entering the whole of Great Britain."

A separate poll conducted last month found widespread anti-Muslim views among Tory members.

The YouGov poll of Conservative Party members, for the anti-racist campaign group Hope Not Hate, found that 40% of members wanted limits on the number of people of the Islamic faith entering the country, as opposed to just 5% who want to see fewer Christians or Jewish people.

It also found that

• 43% of Conservative Party members "would prefer to not have the country led by a Muslim."
• 45% believe that "there are areas in Britain in which non-Muslims are not able to enter."
• 67% believe that "there are areas in Britain that operate under Sharia law."
• 39% believe that "Islamist terrorists reflect a widespread hostility to Britain amongst the Muslim community."

Today's poll comes as voting begins in the contest to replace Theresa May as prime minister, with the result due at the end of the month.

Previous YouGov polls have found that the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is on course to win the contest by a landslide.

In a poll conducted at the start of July, 74% of party members said they planned to back Johnson, compared to just 26% who backed the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt instead.

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