Reform edges Tories into third, YouGov poll reveals

Nigel Farage’s arrival in the UK’s general election may not change the outcome, but it has presented the Conservatives with another mammoth problem. Since his decision to take a front-and-centre role in the campaign, Reform has worked its way up the polls. 

One survey taken shortly after Farage’s return last week put the challenger party two points behind the Conservatives. This week Reform leapfrogged the so-called party of government into second place. 

A YouGov poll, published on Thursday night, put Reform on 19 per cent, ahead of the Tories on 18 per cent. Labour retained its healthy lead with 37 per cent. 

It is one poll, and the UK’s first-past-the-post system tends to work against the smaller parties. But Conservatives have, for some time, been whispering anxiously about the possibility of an electoral wipeout that could kill off the party. During the course of the campaign, those whispers have become louder. 

Crisis meetings are being held by strategists to discuss not just the leadership but whether there is a future for the Tories. Should the party end up with fewer than 100 MPs on 5 July, some fear that it could enter a death spiral.