Reform lead Labour and Tories in UK-wide poll for first time ever

 

Reform lead Labour and Tories in UK-wide poll for first time ever

24th January

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24883580.reform-lead-labour-tories-uk-wide-poll-first-time-ever/

By Xander Elliards

Content Editor

@xanderescribe

 

REFORM UK have polled above both Labour and the Conservatives for the first time.

 

A Find Out Now Westminster poll, published on Friday, showed that Nigel Farage’s party were on 26% of the vote – outstripping the Tories (on 23%) and pushing Labour into third place (on 22%).

 

The Liberal Democrats polled at 12%, and the Greens on 10%.

 

Find Out Now said: “For the first time Reform UK have a clear lead in our voting intention polling, their levels of support having grown steadily since November.

 

“This is driven by them retaining almost all of their 2024 GE support (retaining far more than any other party), winning over a fifth of 2024 GE Conservative voters, and winning almost half (46%) of people who didn’t vote in 2024 but say they would ‘definitely vote’ this time.

 

“Notably, although new Reform UK voters are twice as likely to come from the Conservatives than from Labour, their single-largest source of new supporters is people who didn’t vote in 2024 but say they would ‘definitely vote’ this time.”

 

It comes after two consecutive polls in Find Out Now’s weekly tracker put Reform UK in joint first place, first with Labour and then with the Tories.

 

 

Farage shared the results on social media, writing: “Reform LEADS for the first time in a national opinion poll.”

 

“This is just the beginning.”

 

Zia Yusuf, the party’s chair, said the survey showed Reform are “headed for government”.

 

A total of 2380 UK adults were surveyed for the poll, which was conducted on January 22.

 

It comes as a separate poll from Ipsos UK found confidence in the direction of the UK had fallen back to almost the same level as before the General Election, with 62% saying the country was heading in the wrong direction.

 

Satisfaction with both Labour and the Prime Minister had fallen sharply since July 4, with 50% saying they had an unfavourable view of the party and 52% saying the same about Keir Starmer.

 

But there is little positivity about his opponents either.

 

Just 16% have a positive view of Kemi Badenoch, less than the 25% who have a positive view of Starmer, while 46% have a negative view of the Tory leader.

 

Although 41% of people said they thought Farage understood the problems facing Britain, some 51% said they viewed the Reform UK leader unfavourably – almost twice the 26% who view him favourably.

 

Gideon Skinner, director of UK politics at Ipsos, said the poll revealed “a complex and challenging political landscape”.

 

He said: “Public sentiment towards the Government and leading political figures remains largely negative, marked by widespread dissatisfaction about the direction of the country.

 

“Interestingly, Nigel Farage stands out as the party leader with the most distinct brand in terms of understanding the problems facing Britain, projecting strength and having a strong personality.

 

“Though it should be noted the public are roughly twice as likely to have a negative opinion of him as positive too.”

 

Data on the favourability of politicians and the direction of the country came from an online survey of 1139 British adults between January 10 and 13.