Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has been handed a major boost after renowned pollsters YouGov placed the party just one point behind Labour.
In what has been dubbed the start of a “new era of three-way party politics”, the surging right-wing party has ranked in second place among British voters – with 25 per cent of adults opting for Reform UK, and 26 choosing Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour.
There is also a small gap between Reform and the Conservatives – Kemi Badenoch’s party sits at 22 per cent – while the Lib Dems and Greens sit at 14 and eight per cent, respectively.
The polling, commissioned by Sky News and The Times as part of a new weekly data drop, has prompted glee from Reform’s top brass.
Reacting to the news, party leader Nigel Farage said: “The Tory brand is completely broken. We are the real opposition to this disastrous Government.”
Deputy leader Richard Tice added: “Only Reform UK can save Britain from Labour and Tory uniparty failures.”
Chairman Zia Yusuf jabbed: “Looking at the latest YouGov poll, I’m starting to understand why Robert Jenrick just continued his leadership campaign,” while chief whip Lee Anderson added: “That’ll teach ya.”
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Security Minister backs Tulip Siddiq as ethics investigation rumbles on – ‘She’s getting on with her job!’
Tulip Siddiq is ‘getting on with doing her job,’ Dan Jarvis has vowed
PA
Tulip Siddiq is “getting on with doing her job,” Security Minister Dan Jarvis has vowed, as pressure grows on Labour’s Anti-corruption Minister to stand aside.
Siddiq has referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus over a series of properties in London she has rented or lived in, with links to Bangladeshi political party the Awami League.
Jarvis told Times Radio: “There is now an independent process where [Magnus] is looking to establish the facts of this case and he will make a judgment. I am not independent in the sense that I’m a ministerial colleague of hers, so it’s not for me to make a judgment.
“I’m sure that [the ethics adviser] will.
“She’s getting on with doing her job… corruption is a process that’s managed across Government, between the Home Office, the Treasury… the Prime Minister’s independent adviser is looking carefully at the circumstances of this particular case and the Prime Minister will ultimately make a decision.”
REVEALED: Mauritius’s lawyer on Chagos negotiations campaigned for Starmer’s Labour leadership – ‘Strong candidate!’
Mauritius’s chief counsel on the Chagos Islands, Philippe Sands KC, campaigned for Sir Keir Starmer when he was running to lead the Labour Party, it has emerged.
A new report in political blog Guido Fawkes reveals that Sands – a friend of the now-Prime Minister – hailed Starmer on social media and took shifts on his phone bank, calling Labour members in 2020.
Replying to a campaign video at the time, Sands had said of Starmer: “Strong message, strong candidate, strong support.”
No deal has yet been reached on the Chagos surrender – but it’s understood that Britain is tabling an offer of some £90million every year for a 99-year lease deal on Diego Garcia, a strategic island which plays host to a joint UK-US military base.
Marco Longhi’s switch to Reform UK was ‘strategically motivated’, rival candidate claims, as Farage’s defectors spark ‘Tory 2.0’ fears
Former Tory MP Marco Longhi’s defection to Reform UK was “strategically motivated”, the man he replaced has revealed.
Andrew Southall had stood for Nigel Farage’s party in Dudley at the election last summer – where he received just under 10,000 votes, while Longhi took home just over that number.
Ultimately, Labour’s Sonia Kumar won the seat with 12,215 votes – but Longhi and Southall combined dwarfed her total, with 19,757 ballots cast for the pair.
But on January 3, Longhi switched allegiance to Reform – which Southall said was a complete surprise.
“I found out on the Friday night when the news broke. I won’t lie – a little heads-up would’ve been a nice courtesy,” he told GB News.
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