Farage fury after poll puts Reform eight points behind Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives

Nigel Farage has hit out after a new opinion poll found his Reform UK party has slipped to eight points behind the Conservatives.

The finding will come as a huge boost to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, although her party remains in second place behind Labour.

The poll, by former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, puts Labour on 31 per cent, the Conservatives on 26 per cent and Reform UK on 18 per cent.

In response, Mr Farage hit out on X, claiming it was “totally dishonest polling by (a) Tory donor who isn’t even a member of the British Polling Council.”

The former Ukip leader also said a similar poll had Reform on 21 per cent in May, but the party went on to secure 28 per cent in that month’s local elections, adding “his polling has been proven as bogus time and time again”.

Lord Ashcroft hit back, telling Mr Farage: “I don’t remember you complaining about my polls when I had Reform 9 points ahead…”

He added: “And as you know from your years in polling, asking about the next general election is not the same as asking about a local council election.”

Luke Tryl, from pollsters More in Common, said the latest finding “broadly … aligns with (the) trend we see in other polls”.

Reform topped the polls for more than a year until Andy Burnham entered Downing Street.

The party has faced a difficult few months, following controversy over a £5m donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and two undercover stings by journalists.

On Sunday Mr Farage suggested he believes Parliament’s standards commissioner will find against him in the investigation into the £5m ‘gift’.

Ms Badenoch has eased her own backbenchers’ fears over her performance with notably more assured outings at PMQs and a new high-profile pledge to cut inheritance tax.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Lord Ashcroft said: 'Badenoch continues to make an impression, with voters saying she seems strong, direct, principled and articulate, with more common sense and "better energy" than her recent predecessors.'

Referring to Mr Farage, he added: 'The alternatives are beginning to look less attractive... unsavoury activists, and questions over seriousness and competence have combined to stall Reform's momentum... We have also started to hear former enthusiasts grumble that he has become part of the Establishment.'

The poll asked 5,253 adults between 29 October and 2 November.