Almost half of the British public are unconvinced by the likely candidates to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, according to an exclusive Sky Data poll.

But the vast majority want her to resign if parliament votes against her Brexit deal for a third time.

Mrs May told Conservative MPs on Wednesday she would quit before the next phase of Brexit negotiations if her deal is passed.

Image: Most of the public want Theresa May to leave Number 10 whether her Brexit deal passes or not

But asked to choose from some of the favourites to become the next leader of the Conservative Party - and thus prime minister - most Britons say they don't want any of them.

Boris Johnson is the most popular candidate with 20%, ahead of Amber Rudd, Michael Gove and Sajid Javid all on 8% and Jeremy Hunt on 7%.


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But by far the public's favoured option is "none of these" on 49%.

Image: Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson leads the field on 20%

Six in ten Britons (60%) say Mrs May should resign if parliament votes against her deal for a third time, with 33% saying that she should stay on. Some 7% were unsure.

The prime minister's Brexit deal has already been rejected by MPs twice, in the biggest and fourth biggest government defeats in the history of British democracy.

The government has said a motion on Brexit will be put to MPs on Friday, but according to Sky sources it will not be another vote on the deal as a whole.

The public also want Theresa May to resign as prime minister if MPs do vote for her deal, although by a far narrower margin - 48% think she should, while 42% think she should not.

Some 10% said they don't know.

Image: Michael Gove is not the frontrunner in the Sky Data poll

Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 2,091 Sky customers by SMS on 28 March 2019. Data are weighted to the profile of the population. Sky Data is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

For full Sky Data tables, please click here.