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UK poll shows right-wing Reform in close second behind Labour Party
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Reform UK is now the second most popular party in the UK, trailing Labour by just 1% according to a recent YouGov poll. The poll indicates a shift in voter support from the Conservatives to Reform UK.
By Sachin Ravikumar
LONDON (Reuters) - Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK is Britain's second most popular political party and sits just one percentage point behind the governing Labour Party, according to an opinion poll on Tuesday
Six months after Labour's landslide election victory, and with another vote not due until 2029, YouGov polling showed that if a general election were held tomorrow 26% of British voters would choose Labour and 25% would vote Reform UK. The Conservatives were on 22%.
The poll is YouGov's first since the July 4 election and showed Reform, which won 14% of the vote last summer, gaining support from the Conservatives and, to a lesser extent, Keir Starmer's Labour Party.
Farage's Reform has only five lawmakers in Britain's 650-seat parliament but after winning more than 4 million votes across the country is seen as a populist challenger to a British system historically dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Starmer's Labour, helped into power by voters' frustration with 14 years of Conservative government, has suffered a number of early setbacks including an outcry over ministers accepting freebies and the fallout of a badly received tax-raising budget.
The YouGov poll, which surveyed 2,279 people over the past two days, said only 54% of people who voted Labour in the last election would do so again.
Reform has the backing of Elon Musk, a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, although the Tesla boss has withdrawn his support for Farage.
Elsewhere in Europe, Musk has also endorsed Germany's right-wing, anti-immigration AfD party ahead of national elections in February.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)
The YouGov poll shows that Reform UK is now the second most popular political party in Britain, just one percentage point behind the Labour Party.
Only 54% of people who voted for Labour in the last election indicated they would do so again, reflecting early setbacks for the party.
Elon Musk, a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has previously supported Reform UK, although he has since withdrawn his backing for Farage.
The Labour Party is facing challenges due to public frustration and controversies, including an outcry over ministers accepting freebies.
Reform UK won 14% of the vote in the last election, but has gained additional support since then.
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