Countryside Alliance surveys rural Britain on next Prime Minister

The Countryside Alliance has launched an online survey giving people the opportunity to make rural issues part of the debate on who will be the next Prime Minister.

The results of the survey will be sent to all Conservative leadership candidates and will be used to inform the debate about who should be Britain's next Prime Minister.

The survey asks people what rural issues the next Prime Minister should focus on and whether life in rural communities has improved over the last five years. It also asks whether the main political parties understand rural Britain and which political party best represents rural communities.

The survey has been launched at the same time as the Conservative leadership contest formally begins, following Theresa May standing down as party leader on 7 June. The results of the survey will be published in the middle of June and will help inform the leadership contest.

Countryside Alliance Political Relations Manager, James Somerville-Meikle, commented: "This is a hugely important leadership election for rural communities. The next Prime Minister will be responsible for making Brexit work for the countryside and have the final say on major new policies on agriculture, fishing, and the environment outside the EU.

"The Countryside Alliance is once again at the forefront of making the voice of rural communities heard in national life. This is the only national survey on rural priorities for the new Prime Minister, and we encourage as many of our members and supporters as possible to take part."

The leadership contest begins with Conservative MPs taking part in several rounds of voting over the next couple of weeks to reduce the number of leadership candidates to two. The final two candidates will go through to a vote of all Conservative party members at the end of June. The winner will be announced and take over as Prime Minister in late July.

Take the Survey