Support grows for Reform UK – but some questions remain
While Britons tend to feel Reform UK is dominating the political agenda, just 24% believe they’d do a good job of running the country.
This is according to new data from YouGov, which shows that Reform UK has undeniably had a successful year when it comes to public sentiment.
The party came first in this May’s local elections and has continuously led voting intention polls for four months, both feats no party other than the Conservatives or Labour has achieved in living memory, while their favoured topic of immigration is currently seen as the most important issue facing the country.
A key positive for Reform UK is that they are perceived as the dominant party at the moment, with 44% of Britons feeling they are doing the most to set the agenda, up from 33% in May. This compares to 14% feeling Labour is doing the most to define the political debate (down from 19%), with no more than 3% saying so about any other party.
Even among Labour voters, Reform UK is seen as having a bigger say over the political conversation than the government by a margin of 37% to 27%.
Likely because of this recent success, nearly half of Britons (48%) believe Farage is doing well as leader of Reform UK, though 30% say he’s handling the job badly.
Questions remain over governance
But Reform UK fares less well when it turns to questions of taking power. Just 24% of Britons believe a government led by Nigel Farage would do a good job of running the country, with roughly twice as many (49%) expecting a Reform government to do a bad job, including 38% who would anticipate them doing a very bad job. A further 16% expect such a government would do an average job in office.
Similarly, just a third of Britons (32%) believe that the running of the country would improve under a Reform UK government, despite just 11% of the public approving of the current government’s record of running the country. Nearly half of the public (48%) expect the running of the country would get worse.
Despite their ability to lead in voting intention polls where all parties are listed, Reform UK’s lead evaporates in a binary choice against Labour. If Britons had to choose between the two as the outcome of the next election, 43% say they would favour a second term for Labour under Keir Starmer, more than the 37% who want Farage in Number 10 leading a Reform UK government.
