Labour Party Matches Reform in Polls After Andy Burnham Named Prime Minister
Labour's Resurgence in UK Political Polls
By Alistair Smout
Labour Overtakes Reform Following Leadership Change
LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Britain's governing Labour Party has caught up with, or overtaken, Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK in the polls, according to three different surveys which showed a bounce for new leader Andy Burnham a week after he became prime minister.
Background: Reform's Previous Lead and Labour's Response
Farage's anti-immigrant Reform party had led nearly every opinion poll for more than a year and gained hundreds of seats in local and regional votes in May, prompting Labour to remove the unpopular Keir Starmer and install Burnham, a more charismatic former mayor, as prime minister on July 20.
Burnham's Initial Policy Moves
He spent his first week as leader looking to give voters "breathing space" on the cost of living - removing a tax on energy bills, capping bus fares and cutting taxes for pubs and bars.
Polling Data and Analysis
A poll by Survation found that Labour was on 26% after Burnham's first week in office, overtaking Reform on 24%. The week before Starmer announced his resignation in June, Labour had been on just 19%, with Reform on 27%.
Survation Chief Executive Damian Lyons Lowe said the poll was "the highest Survation has had Labour since 3 June 2025, and the first Labour polling lead since 3 May 2025".
Other Poll Results
Other pollsters reported a similar pattern. On Monday, More In Common showed Labour on 28% ahead of Reform on 24%, while YouGov had Reform and Labour tied at 22%, with Labour up 6 points since May and Reform at their lowest level of support since March 2025.
Public Perception of Leadership
YouGov also said more Britons saw Burnham as a better prime minister than Farage, or any other major party leader.
Challenges Facing Reform and Labour's Outlook
As Labour enjoys a bounce, Reform has faced questions over whether gifts from wealthy backers were properly declared, which Farage has angrily decried as a bid by the establishment to discredit him.
Asked about the bounce in the polls on Monday, Burnham said he would not get "carried away" but was pleased to have "made a start where hopefully I've connected with people".
(Reporting by Alistair Smout;Editing by Alison Williams)