Reform support dwindling as Tories close gap, says poll

Reform UK appears to be suffering a significant drop in popularity, with a new poll showing support has slumped by five points.

- DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR

The More in Common poll, released yesterday, shows Nigel Farage’s party on 25 per cent. The Tories are edging closer to Reform and are up by three points, on 22 per cent. The eight-point swing has left Mr Farage’s party with its lowest share in a More in Common poll since April last year and comes as Reform hopes to hoover up as many as 1,500 council seats in the local elections in May.

A number of Reform insiders have privately raised concerns about the impact of Rupert Lowe’s new right-wing party, Restore Britain, which has been measured at 4 per cent in other polls.

Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth who left Reform last year after a row with then chair Zia Yusuf and Mr Farage, told The Independent: “We are causing them big problems. People are bored with [Farage].”

The findings also raise questions over how much of an asset Mr Farage still is to his party. Although his net approval rating of -20 per cent among voters is still well above Sir Keir Starmer's -43 per cent, it is his worst personal result since last year’s election.