<p>Rishi Sunak on Thursday appeared to score a surprise win with a studio audience at a key debate with frontrunner Liz Truss in the race to become Britain's next prime minister.</p>.<p>While opinion polls back Truss to win the vote among Conservative party members, those sitting in the audience at the Sky News debate overwhelmingly supported Sunak in a show of hands -- after an electronic voting system broke down.</p>.<p>Truss had faced acerbic questioning from presenter Kay Burley, including a run-through of her policy U-turns and the question: "Will the real Liz Truss please stand up?"</p>.<p>Truss had earlier been forced into another U-turn after a damaging statement by her campaign team on Monday that the government could save £8.8 billion ($10.75 billion) a year if it paid lower salaries to public sector workers who lived outside London.</p>.<p>"You wanted to cut civil servants' pay in the regions and then you said you didn't," Burley said, listing her policy U-turns.</p>.<p>Truss insisted the proposal was misrepresented by media.</p>.<p>"Should good leaders own their mistakes, or should they blame others?" Burley asked her.</p>.<p>"I'm not blaming anybody else. I'm not. I'm not. I'm saying the policy has been misrepresented by various people," Truss said, appearing flustered.</p>.<p>Burley also challenged Truss on her comments soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine that she would back Brits going to fight on the Ukrainian side.</p>.<p>British fighters have since been captured and convicted as mercenaries and face a potential death penalty in the Donetsk separatist region.</p>.<p>Truss stressed the travel advice was always that British people should not go to Ukraine.</p>.<p>Sunak also faced tough questioning and a quip about his taste in designer loafers.</p>.<p>"People feel that you can't walk a mile in their shoes because you're walking in your Prada shoes," Burley told Sunak, whose father-in-law is a billionaire.</p>.<p>She mocked Sunak's insistence on his humble roots as he mentioned that his father was a doctor in the national health service (NHS).</p>.<p>"I grew up in an NHS household, you may have heard on this campaign," he said.</p>.<p>"He never mentions it!" Burley interjected.</p>.<p>The final vote showed a larger number of hands for Sunak than for Truss, as Burley admitted: "I wasn't expecting that."</p>.<p>The result of the vote between Truss and Sunak, to decide who will replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is due on September 5.</p>
<p>Rishi Sunak on Thursday appeared to score a surprise win with a studio audience at a key debate with frontrunner Liz Truss in the race to become Britain's next prime minister.</p>.<p>While opinion polls back Truss to win the vote among Conservative party members, those sitting in the audience at the Sky News debate overwhelmingly supported Sunak in a show of hands -- after an electronic voting system broke down.</p>.<p>Truss had faced acerbic questioning from presenter Kay Burley, including a run-through of her policy U-turns and the question: "Will the real Liz Truss please stand up?"</p>.<p>Truss had earlier been forced into another U-turn after a damaging statement by her campaign team on Monday that the government could save £8.8 billion ($10.75 billion) a year if it paid lower salaries to public sector workers who lived outside London.</p>.<p>"You wanted to cut civil servants' pay in the regions and then you said you didn't," Burley said, listing her policy U-turns.</p>.<p>Truss insisted the proposal was misrepresented by media.</p>.<p>"Should good leaders own their mistakes, or should they blame others?" Burley asked her.</p>.<p>"I'm not blaming anybody else. I'm not. I'm not. I'm saying the policy has been misrepresented by various people," Truss said, appearing flustered.</p>.<p>Burley also challenged Truss on her comments soon after Russia's invasion of Ukraine that she would back Brits going to fight on the Ukrainian side.</p>.<p>British fighters have since been captured and convicted as mercenaries and face a potential death penalty in the Donetsk separatist region.</p>.<p>Truss stressed the travel advice was always that British people should not go to Ukraine.</p>.<p>Sunak also faced tough questioning and a quip about his taste in designer loafers.</p>.<p>"People feel that you can't walk a mile in their shoes because you're walking in your Prada shoes," Burley told Sunak, whose father-in-law is a billionaire.</p>.<p>She mocked Sunak's insistence on his humble roots as he mentioned that his father was a doctor in the national health service (NHS).</p>.<p>"I grew up in an NHS household, you may have heard on this campaign," he said.</p>.<p>"He never mentions it!" Burley interjected.</p>.<p>The final vote showed a larger number of hands for Sunak than for Truss, as Burley admitted: "I wasn't expecting that."</p>.<p>The result of the vote between Truss and Sunak, to decide who will replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is due on September 5.</p>