Reform is on track to smash Keir Starmer’s so-called ‘Red Wall’, according to a poll today, with support for Nigel Farage’s party surging across the North and Midlands from 18% at the General Election to 30%, ahead of Labour on 27%. The Mail has more.
Support for Nigel Farage’s party has surged in traditional Labour strongholds across the North and Midlands – from 18% at the General Election to 30%.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir has seen his party slide from 39% to 27%, with his own popularity nosediving.
More than two-thirds of residents in the crucial battleground agree that Britain is broken’, with just 23% saying that is not true.
The research by Survation will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street as local elections loom – with Mr Farage vowing to “plant tanks” on Labour’s lawn.
Sir Keir has been increasingly turning his fire on Reform, after abandoning the approach of ignoring the newcomers. Strategists believe the party is likely to be a bigger threat than the Tories by 2029.
The PM has been focusing on Mr Farage’s NHS views, close ties to Donald Trump and claims he has a soft stance on Russia.
Survation quizzed more than 2,000 residents in the Midlands and North last week. Labour reclaimed a swathe of seats there in July that the Tories had picked up in Boris Johnson’s 2019 election landslide.
Sir Keir’s net approval rating was a dismal minus-26, based on 27% having a positive view and 53% negative.
By comparison Mr Farage was on minus-4 and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch on minus-8.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves came out particularly badly after huge tax hikes and cuts to winter fuel payments for pensioners, with a rating of minus-35.
Among those living in areas where local elections are going ahead on May 1st, Reform’s support was 29% with Labour on 20% and the Tories 24%.
However, the sample was relatively small for those residents, making the results more volatile.
The cost of living was regarded as the most important issue by 53%, with immigration next on 35%, health 32% and the economy 28%.
Tony Blair’s spin chief Alastair Campbell is said to have warned at a recent pep talk for Labour special advisers that they need to treat Reform as a more serious electoral threat.
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