Third of Reform voters want a new leader

Is Nigel Farage’s position under threat? Most inside Reform don’t seem to think so – but a new poll offers a warning shot to the Clacton MP. It transpires that a third of the party’s voters think Reform would be performing better if he stepped down and allowed another to take his place. Who might they have in mind? With the explosive events of the weekend threatening to derail the party, the YouGov survey could hardly land at a worse time…

The civil war that has engulfed the right-wing party over the last week appears to have left its supporters feeling split too. The fallout between Farage and Rupert Lowe – whose relationship couldn’t be described as rosy at the best of times – has not been particularly edifying. While a third believe the group would do better under a different leader – Mr S can think of one particularly willing candidate – more than a fifth are adamant Reform’s prospects would improve ‘a lot’ with a Farage replacement. 

It comes after the party’s Friday night meltdown which saw Lowe suspended from the party after allegations of bullying were made against his office, with the MP even reported to the police by his erstwhile band of brothers. For his part, Lowe has denied all of the accusations against him – and even claimed the party’s actions were ‘no surprise’ after he had dared to suggest the group under Farage remained a ‘protest party led by the Messiah’. This afternoon’s latest development is that the Metropolitan Police have now launched a formal investigation into Lowe. Where will it all end?

The YouGov poll bucks the positive polling trend the party had been enjoying lately – with Reform leading Labour in multiple surveys this year. It’s not necessarily all bad news for Farage, however, as just over a third of his voters believe Reform would be struggling more without him. But as long as the feud continues, only one politician ultimately stands to benefit. As one Tory MP quipped on Monday: ‘It’s been a rubbish few weeks for Kemi [Badenoch] but this is the best news she’s had all year.’ Quite.