While rumours continue to swirl about whether the Conservatives will strike a deal with Reform UK, exclusive polling shared with the Spectator suggests that voters aren’t all that convinced by the aligning of the Tories with Nigel Farage’s party. In fact, it appears that almost six in ten Brits believe the Tories and Labour are similar to each other – with two thirds of Reform supporters seeing little difference between the UK’s two main parties. How very curious…
The data from Merlin Strategy, collected from 2,300 adults on 9 May, backs up concerns that voters are turning away from the UK’s long-established political parties – with just under 70 per cent of Brits say that both Keir Starmer’s Labour lot and Kemi Badenoch’s boys in blue are too similar and have failed the country, leaving the public with no real choice when they go to the polls. It benefits Nigel Farage’s Reform party, which four in ten British adults approve of, compared to Starmer’s army – which has the approval of little more than a quarter of Brits. Oo er.
Rather interestingly, half of those who backed the Tories in last year’s general election approve of Farage – with the Reform leader also winning over more than a third of Labour supporters. And while half of those who backed Sir Keir at the election disapprove of Reform, a third of Labour voters are on board with the direction of the right-wing party. As pollsters and founder of Merlin Strategy Scarlett Maguire remarked:
Voters are desperate for change, but a majority of them think that the traditional opponents of UK politics – Labour and the Conservatives – are similar. Strikingly, given all the conversations about some sort of pact or merger between Reform and the Conservatives, the public are actually less likely to think those parties have more in common than the Tories and Labour – with Reform being seen as more of a disruptor.
And disruption isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it seems, with Farage’s crowd picking up more than 670 council seats at the local elections this month – as well as two new mayoralties and the constituency of Runcorn and Helsby. Not bad going, eh? Today’s figures suggest that unless the Labour lot and Conservatives can better distinguish themselves in the eyes of the public, Reform’s winning streak could continue…
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