Rise of Reform fuelled by over-45s, polling shows

A generational divide in British politics is playing into Nigel Farage's hands, as his party Reform UK tops the Techne UK weekly tracker poll for the first time.

- DAVID MADDOX

Overall in the Techne poll, Reform leads with 26 per cent (up 1), Labour is second on 25 per cent (down 1), and the Tories are trailing unchanged on 22 per cent. The Lib Dems are on 12 per cent (down 1) and the Greens are unchanged on 7 per cent.

According to Electoral Calculus, if this was the result in a general election, Reform would be the biggest party on 199 seats, with Labour on 183 and the Tories on 145.

More significantly, the findings reveal a generational split, with Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) on one side, and Millennials (1981 to 1996) and the newest young voters from Generation Z (1997 to 2012) on the other.