Labour hold a 25 percent lead on the Conservatives and Reform are now just eight percent behind the Tories, a new poll reveals.
In a fresh blow to Rishi Sunak, the People Polling for GB News survey has Labour at 45 percent, the Conservatives at 20 percent and Reform at 12 percent.
And in another boost for Richard Tice’s party, 14% of people say it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that they will consider voting Reform at the next election.
This rises to 29% of 2019 Conservative voters and 26% of Brexit voters.
Details of the poll were revealed during Patrick Christys Tonight on GB News.
Commenting on what they illustrate, Professor Matthew Goodwin said: “This is further evidence the rise of Reform is real. The party is only eight points behind the Tories and is now attracting about one quarter of Brexit and Conservative Party voters.
“Were these numbers replicated at a general election tomorrow you would be looking at a commanding Labour Party majority, so this is more bad news for Rishi Sunak.”
Offering his view on the surge in support for Reform, he continued: “These numbers suggest Reform still has a little more room to grow and looks set to continue to present a significant challenge to Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives. Of course, no-one knows what might happen to these numbers if and when Nigel Farage returns to lead the party.
“But for now, it appears Reform’s support is in the 10-15% range, which is broadly equivalent to UKIP in 2015, which captured one seat, almost 13% of the national vote, and nearly four million votes.”
The poll also revealed Nigel Farage is emerging as the preferred choice to replace Rishi Sunak - albeit Tory supporters appear unimpressed with the available options.
When Brits are asked to imagine the Conservative Party has decided to replace Rishi Sunak with a new leader and choose from a long list of potential successors, the most popular choice was Nigel Farage (8%) followed by Boris Johnson (7%), and Penny Mordaunt (7%).
Among 2019 Conservative Party voters the most popular choice is Nigel Farage (16%), Boris Johnson (15%), and Penny Mordaunt (12%). Yet among all voters, 51% said it was “none of the above”.
Professor Goodwin added “While it is important to note more than half the electorate reject ALL of these options, it is nonetheless revealing that in this hypothetical situation Nigel Farage emerges as the most popular successor to Rishi Sunak.
“He is just ahead of Boris Johnson and Penny Mordaunt. Perhaps this is more evidence his brand has been strengthened by his recent appearance on I’m a Celebrity, or simply the fact that voters are largely unaware of the alternatives.
“Number 10 will no doubt also note how Farage is the preferred option among 2019 Conservative Party voters, which is another sign of just how much the party’s electorate has changed in recent years.”
Meanwhile, the poll also revealed just 17% of British people say that if there was another world war they would “willingly fight for their country”.
A further 14% say they would only fight because they had to, while a plurality of 30% say they “would do whatever is possible to avoid fighting for my country”.
Among 18-14 year-olds, 43% say they would do whatever is necessary to avoid fighting while 14% say they would willingly fight, or only fight because they had to, respectively. Londoners and Scots are also the most likely to say they would do whatever possible to avoid fighting.
The People Polling survey also found more people support the decision by the Michaela school to ban all prayer than oppose it. Overall, 38% of Brits say they support the decision by the school to ban all prayer so that children are not separated on the basis of religion and race, while 28% oppose.
The poll found 18-24 year olds are the least likely to support the ban on all prayer, which only 19% of them do - while 48% oppose it.”
- The poll was undertaken by People Polling Limited, a member of the British Polling Council, on January 25.
