Reform land huge poll victory with 'highest-ever' ranking in major blow to Tories

 

Reform land huge poll victory with 'highest-ever' ranking in major blow to Tories

 

Reform UK, which was first founded in 2018 as the Brexit Party, pitches itself as a growing threat to the Conservatives.

 

By STEPH SPYRO, Environment Editor and Senior Political Correspondent

20:49, Tue, Mar 19, 2024 | UPDATED: 20:54, Tue, Mar 19, 2024

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1879436/reform-uk-election-poll-tories-defeat

 

The Tories will be concerned about Reform UK’s “highest-ever” ranking in a new poll released today, a pollster has warned.

 

The party led by Richard Tice received its highest vote share in a Savanta poll for the first time at 11 percent, beating the Liberal Democrats into third place.

 

This week’s results have Labour ahead with 44% of respondents saying they would vote for Sir Keir Starmer’s party and only 26% saying they would back the Conservatives.

 

Chris Hopkins, the political research director at Savanta, told The Daily Telegraph: “After yet another bad week for the Prime Minister, the fact that this latest polling shows that things haven’t got any worse for the Conservative Party is probably the best he could have hoped for.

 

“Still, Savanta’s Labour leads have been fairly consistently in the high teens now for several weeks, and they all point to a significant Labour majority if replicated at a general election.

 

“The Reform UK vote share here is noteworthy, and the party will continue to trouble Conservative strategists. These latest figures represent Reform’s highest ever vote share in a Savanta poll and, for the first time, leapfrogging the Lib Dems into third."

 

He added that Reform UK still had to prove that it would "back up" its strong polling performance at the next General Election.

 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will call a general election before January 2025, with odds tipping a likely vote in autumn this year.

 

Lee Anderson, former Tory deputy chairman, defected to the right-wing populist party last week.

 

Reform, formerly known as the Brexit Party, has also made gains in two by-elections last month.

 

Reform UK came in third with 2,578 votes - meaning their vote combined with the Tories would be more than the Labour vote.

 

Reform celebrated its best-ever by-election result when it snatched 13% of the vote share in the previously safe Tory seat of Wellingborough.