The latest YouGov study is not a cheerful read for Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street and the Labour party he leads. Nigel Farage’s nation-friendly Reform UK is gaining ground in the polls and is now only one percent behind the ruling Labour party.
The poll, which is the first since last summer’s general election, places the ruling Labour in first place with a voter support of 26 percent. However, this is only one percent more than what the political figure Nigel Farage has gathered for his new party Reform UK, which now has the support of 25 percent of Britons.
Things are even worse for the conservative Tories, who were ousted by Labour last summer after 14 years in power. The party has to settle for third place in the poll with a voter support of 22 percent.
According to YouGov, Labour has lost 7 percent of last year’s voters to the left-liberal Liberal Democrats, 6 percent to the left-leaning Greens, 5 percent to the nation-friendly Reform UK, and 4 percent to the Tories. Despite retaining the lead by the smallest margin, it’s a disaster rating for Labour after just six months in power. Only just over half, 54 percent of Labour’s voters from the summer election, would vote the same way if there were an election today.
Boost from Musk
In recent times, Farage’s party has received support from the American tech billionaire, owner of X, and now also Donald Trump advisor, Elon Musk. This has had an impact on the polls, as Musk has also not held back in criticizing the incumbent Labour government.
However, all is not well between Farage and Musk. They recently clashed over the prominent imprisoned citizen journalist Tommy Robinson, who is considered too radical by Reform UK’s leader but is liked by Musk.
There could be many changes in party sympathies leading up to the next election. Since the UK does not have proportional representation, it is far from certain that the party with the strongest national voter support will also win a majority of seats in the House of Commons.
Shaken to its core
However, it is clear that Labour has been shaken to its core since taking office last summer. Economic growth is weak, and a series of political decisions on social security and taxes have not been well received by the British people.
Many also believe that Starmer’s government, with its liberal approach to crime and migration policies, is out of touch with reality. The recent authoritarian interventions by the police and other authorities against dissenting individuals and opinion makers are also linked to the Labour government.
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