Ford Escort starting

This issue affects a lot of escorts more of the early models those.

on thermostat housing there will be a thermal ticker over that pulls a cable that is connected to the injector pump this is your cold idle. The plan is this opens pump up a little to allow engine to run faster unit it warms up. They do fail due to rust or old age

If it is a newer model there maybe a cold start sensor on the pump connected to ecu, it maybe be worth getting ecu read to find fault.

It might also be worth testing the heater plugs it could have one down this will also have starting issue where you need to floor it to start up in morning after that it starts ok thought out the day ?

last post is referring to diesel, as you state an SI it must be petrol.
Are you getting the management light coming on? if not i would start by looking for any vacuum or air leaks on the intake

Check / replace engine coolant temp sensor . This lets ecu know how much fuel needed on start up etc. Just like using old choke .That would explain why the engine was o.k after 5 mins as engine now warmed up .