Top Tory Humiliated With Brutal Makerfield Poll Putting Conservatives In Last Place

Posted on 31/05/2026 by Boris Clair

A senior Conservative was left red-faced on Sunday when presented with the results of an opinion poll of the Makerfield voters.

Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips showed shadow home secretary Chris Philp the findings from a Survation survey of 369 people set to vote in the crunch by-election.

The graph showed put the Conservatives in last place on 2% in the constituency.

The Green Party were just in front on 3%, the Liberal Democrats on 4%, Restore Britain on 7%, Reform UK on 40% and Labour in the lead on 43%.

Phillips said: “Before 2024, you used to come second between 20 and 30% of the vote.

“Now there are three parties that could describe themselves as being of the right, or centre right, and you – you’re the official opposition – you’re the least popular of the three!

“Reform, Restore, Conservatives.”

Pointing to the graph, he said: “Look, there are the Tories, down there at the bottom. What the heck happened?”

Sky News' graph of the Survation opinion poll — Sky News’ graph of the Survation opinion poll

The Tory MP replied: “By-elections are very strange things. You’ve got this weird dynamic where Andy Burnham is running as a Labour candidate to basically kick out Keir Starmer.

“So this by-election is idiosyncratic, it’s incredibly unusual.”

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is hoping to win the Makerfield seat so he can challenge the prime minister’s leadership.

Phillips said: “But people of the right aren’t going to you. They’re going to Reform, they’re going to Restore, which is a party almost nobody has even heard of.

“They are polling better than you are! What has happened to the Tories?”

“Let’s just see what the actual result says,” Philp replied, claiming this was “just one little poll in one constituency in very unusual circumstances”.

He said: “If you take the [national] polls as a whole, we’re often in second place, Kemi is rated as the best leader and you can see that we’re the only party holding the failing Labour Party to account.”

Philp also noted that it takes time to “rebuild trust” with the public following their unpopular 14-year stint in government.

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How Are The Parties Really Feeling Ahead Of Thursday’s Elections?

Posted on 05/05/2026 by Boris Clair

This Thursday will present the largest test of the Labour government – and its rival parties – since the last general election nearly two years ago.

Around 5,000 seats across 136 local councils, along with six mayoral contests, are up for election in England.

Voters in Scotland and Wales will also go to the polls for elections to Holyrood and the Senedd.

Labour are widely expected to suffer a catastrophic night, piling fresh pressure on Keir Starmer.

The Tories are expected to endure significant losses too, with the Greens and especially Reform UK on course to make huge gains as voters deliver a damning verdict on the two main parties.

Here, HuffPost UK assesses how the main parties are shaping up ahead of the biggest test of public opinion since July, 2024.

Labour

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with residents at Newton Leys pavilion to discuss how the government is implementing policies to ease the cost of living as he campaigns ahead of local elections scheduled for May 7 on April 1, 2026

Pollsters’ prediction? Top forecaster Lord Hayward warned Labour will lose 1,850 council seats. That means the party could be left with barely a quarter of the 2,550 councillors they currently have in the areas which are up for re-election.

YouGov does not expect Labour to win any constituency seats in Scotland at all, with their predicted 15 seats coming from the regional top-up lists.

Labour is also expected to lose power in the Welsh parliament for the first time since it was established in 1999, with YouGov predicting the party’s vote share will drop to 13% – down 23 points on the 2021 election.

That means Labour could end up with just 12 of the Senedd’s 96 seats.

What’s the mood within the party? Understandably bleak.

Starmer is actively calling for his party to support him amid rising fears of a leadership challenge from his main rivals Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting.

One party insider said: “We’re resigned to taking a significant knock, but are still standing and trying to get out as many votes as possible.”

“I just think Labour are fucked either way,” another source said candidly.

In a rare moment of optimism, campaigners also said voters have been “disinterested” rather than actively hostile to Labour activists – which was an improvement on what they were expecting.

One insider told HuffPost UK that deputy prime minister David Lammy had told activists over the weekend that the row which hit Zack Polanksi in the wake of last week’s Golders Green attacks could damage the Greens.

This sparked some hope that the party could claw back some of their supporters.

Conservatives

Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Conservative Party meets party supporters during a visit to Sunderland on April 02, 2026 in Sunderland, United Kingdom.

Pollsters’ prediction? The Tories are expected to lose 600 councillors in England, according to Lord Hayward.

YouGov expects the Tory vote to fall to just 8% of the vote in Holyrood – that would be the worst ever result for the party at any election within Scotland.

Predictions suggest the Tories would go from having 31 seats in 2021 to just seven.

The pollster also predicts the Tories will end up with just three seats in Wales.

What’s the mood within the party? Not very optimistic.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s own leadership has been strengthened in recent months as she’s improved her PMQs appearance – and her main challenger, Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform.

But that does not necessarily translate to votes – especially as the Tories are still being punished for their 14 years in power.

One traditionally Conservative voter stunned the public this week by announcing she would be backing Labour instead, just to keep the Greens out.

Anecdotally, HuffPost UK has heard other Tories telling door-knockers they planned to do the same. The party did not respond when approached for comment.

Reform UK

Pollsters’ prediction? Hayward expects Reform to gain 1,550 seats in England.

The party is expected to make a bmajor reakthrough in Scotland, according to YouGov, winning 20 MSPs in total and replacing Labour as the official opposition to the SNP.

Reform is also in a close fight with Plaid Cymru to be the largest party in the Welsh Senedd.

What’s the mood within the party? Understandably upbeat.

Reform are set to win their first seats in Wales and Scotland after more than a year of leading in the national opinion polls.

Nigel Farage told The Sunday Times he expected the party to do “stunningly well”.

He claimed Reform would be taking “Labour heartlands” in the local elections – Yorkshire, the northwest, the northeast, parts of the Midlands and the Welsh Valleys.

But there are suggestions that support for the party has already peaked, with its polling numbers declining over the past six months.

Farage also skipped a grilling from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. That came after reports he accepted an undisclosed £5 million donation from a billionaire supporter before he ran to be an MP.

His team said he decided to pull out last minute to campaign in his Clacton constituency, but critics suggested he was dodging scrutiny.

The party courted further controversy on Sunday by announcing plans to put detention centres for illegal migrants in constituencies and councils which vote Green.

Greens

(L-R) Councillor and Green Party candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava and Green Party Leader Zack Polanski pose with supporters holding placards during Lewisham Green Party's 'Big Day Out' at the Fox and Firkin on April 11, 2026 — (L-R) Councillor and Green Party candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava and Green Party Leader Zack Polanski pose with supporters holding placards during Lewisham Green Party’s ‘Big Day Out’ at the Fox and Firkin on April 11, 2026

Pollsters’ prediction? The Greens are set to see its number of councillors in England increase by 500, according to Hayward, mainly in London and other middle class areas of major cities.

The Greens are predicted to enjoy a small boost in Scotland, up from their current eight seats to 11, according to YouGov.

YouGov also expects the party to win seven seats in Wales, meaning it could come in fourth place behind Labour in the Senedd.

What’s the mood within the party? Hopeful – but cautious.

Leader Zack Polanski was forced to apologise last week after sharing a social media post which criticised the police response to a terror attack in Golders Green.

While Labour are hopeful this will reduce the number of voters willing to support their left-wing competitors, a Green insider suggested it would not have too much cut-through.

One senior figure in the party also insisted it was all “very positive” on the doorstep, but campaigners have been more cautious behind the scenes.

“There’s been a lot of hype about us wiping out Labour in London, and we’re definitely going to have a record-breaking result. At the same time, I think people forget the base we’re coming from,” they said, pointing to Greens’ poor performance at London’s last local elections in 2021.

“It’s going to be very good for us but perhaps some of the more apocalyptic predictions forget the context we’re coming from,” the source claimed.

Lib Dems

Liberal Democrat party leader Sir Ed Davey (C), along with Roger Harmer, leader of Birmingham Liberal Democrats (CL), launches their local election campaign at The Roundhouse on April 10, 2026

Pollsters’ prediction? The Lib Dems are on course to gain 150 seats in the local elections, according to Hayward.

YouGov expects the centrist party to take nine seats in Scotland (up from its current four) but secure just three seats in Wales.

What’s the mood within the party? Surprisingly upbeat.

The Lib Dems have been trailing in the national opinion polls for some time, outshone by the traditional parties and the populist groups.

Behind the scenes, MPs have been unhappy with Ed Davey’s leadership for months, frustrated with his “gimmicks”.

But, with these elections, the party has developed a clear strategy – focusing on local council issues in the hope of taking more seats in England.

There’s even been some speculation they could become the largest party in English local government, especially with Labour and the Tories expecting to endure major losses.

SNP

SNP MSP Candidate for Stirling Alyn Smith (C-L), First Minister John Swinney (C) and Deputy Leader of the SNP Keith Brown (C-R) pose for a photo after a campaign stump speech at the King's Knot on May 01, 2026 — SNP MSP Candidate for Stirling Alyn Smith (C-L), First Minister John Swinney (C) and Deputy Leader of the SNP Keith Brown (C-R) pose for a photo after a campaign stump speech at the King’s Knot on May 01, 2026

Pollsters’ prediction? The SNP is once again on course to comfortably win the Scottish Parliament election.

YouGov predicted the SNP could win 67 seats in Holyrood – giving the party an overall majority. But More in Common and Lord Hayward have both said they will fall short.

What’s the mood within the party? Very happy.

If the polls are correct, the SNP is heading for a remarkable third decade in power, after first being elected way back in 2007.

This is despite criticism of their handling of the Scottish NHS, education system and other public services during nearly 20 years in power.

While questions remain over whether the party will be able to clinch a majority, they are set to benefit from the major splits between Scottish Labour and the Westminster government.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for Starmer to step down earlier this year in the hope of distancing himself from Downing Street’s disasters, but the move does not seem to have won over voters.

The Nationalists have also pledged to call for a second Scottish independence referendum if they win a majority.

Plaid Cymru

Pollsters’ prediction? The pro-independence party is only standing in the Welsh devolved election. Hayward predicted it will be the largest party in terms of votes and seats in Senedd.

However, YouGov predicted it will secure 36 seats – making it just one representative away from Reform’s lead.

What’s the mood within the party? Nervous.

Like the SNP, Plaid Cymru are hoping to capitalise on Labour’s downfall.

Unlike the Scottish Nationalists, they’ve never been in power before and so do not have to contend with their own record in office to win over voters.

But, they do have the new kids on the block to compete with: Reform UK, who are making gains in Wales – and who look set to be the largest unionist party in the Senedd after Thursday.

How Important Will May 7 Actually Be?

Steve Akehurst, director of research initiative Persuasion UK, warned against seeing this set of results as the ideal test of how the public feels.

He told HuffPost UK: “Local elections are an imperfect way of attempting to measure national sentiment.

“In terms of predictions, I think it’s best to wait for the national equivalent vote share later in the weekend.”

The specialist said analysing Reform’s performance will be particularly difficult “given the party basically didn’t exist in 2022, the last time many of these seats were contested.”

But, Akehurst warned: “It’s important to remember that Labour losing seats to Reform is not the same as Labour losing votes to Reform.

“Around the country we have seen the same patterns since the general election – where votes shifting from Reform to Tory, or Labour to Green or Liberal Democrat, led to Labour seats becoming Reform seats with little direct loss of votes from one party to the other.

“That is likely to be the case again at these elections.”

Tories Row Back After Launching Brutal Attack On Reform Defector Suella Braverman’s ‘Mental Health’

Posted on 26/01/2026 by Boris Clair

The Conservatives have amended their initial reaction to Reform UK MP Suella Braverman’s defection after lashing out at her “mental health”.

The former Tory home secretary announced she was joining Nigel Farage’s new party on Monday – and the Conservative team quickly attacked her.

In their initial statement, a Tory spokesperson said: “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect.

“The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.”

The initial message triggered significant backlash on social media, with Tory peer Stewart Jackson calling it a “nasty and unpleasant statement” on X.

He warned: “That’s another few thousand votes they’ve lost.”

Two hours later, the Tories sent out another “final” statement – and removed that second sentence, claiming the first draft was “sent out in error”.

A Reform source said: “It’s a gross affront to millions of people in this country’s; it’s also not true.

“Whether you like Suella or not, she is a Cambridge-educated barrister who has served in a series of extraordinarily senior positions in this country. It goes without saying that she has never been diagnosed with a mental health condition.

″[This] is a testament to the extent to which the Tory party is in real panic mode and is prepared to say anything.”

Braverman later told reporters at a subsequent press conference that those attacks from the Tories “say more about them than they do about me”.

She added: “It is a bit pathetic. I am afraid it’s more sorry signs of a bitter and desperate party that is in free fall.”

The keen eurosceptic announced earlier on Monday that she felt she had “come home” by joining Farage’s Reform.

Braverman was known for trying to push the Conservatives further right when her party was in government.

She held multiple ministerial positions under the last four Tory prime ministers, including attorney-general and home secretary.

As of this afternoon, the Conservatives’ final statement read:

“It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect.

“She says she feels that she has ‘come home’, which will come as a surprise to the people who chose not to elect a Reform MP in her constituency in 2024.

“There are some people who are MPs because they care about their communities and want to deliver a better country.

“There are others who do it for their personal ambition.

“Suella stood for leader of the Conservatives in 2022 and came sixth, behind Kemi and Tom Tugendhat.

“In 2024 she could not even muster enough supporters to get on the ballot. She has now decided to try her luck with Nigel Farage, who said last year he didn’t want her in Reform.

“They really are doing our ‘Spring cleaning’!

“As always happens with Reform, they unveil defections just when the Labour government is tearing itself to pieces – Rayner, Mandelson, now Burnham.

“Reform are too busy opposing the Conservatives to hold the Labour government to account.

“The Conservative Party is now the only party that believes in smaller government, less welfare and Britain living within its means, and has the team and the experience to get Britain working again.”

‘A Shameless Chancer’: Jenrick Slammed After Quitting Tories For Reform

Posted on 15/01/2026 by Boris Clair

Robert Jenrick has been branded “a shameless chancer” after defecting from the Tories to Reform UK.

The former Tory leadership contender jumped ship just hours after Kemi Badenoch sacked him from her frontbench after seeing “clear, irrefutable evidence” of his betrayal.

That turned out to be a copy of the speech he planned to make announcing his defection, which was leaked to the Conservative leader by someone in Jenrick’s office.

In it, he said: “The Tories and Labour have forfeited the right to govern the United Kingdom. And the mantle now passes to Reform.”

It also emerged that Jenrick first held talks with Reform leader Nigel Farage last September, and since then has repeatedly denied he had any plans to defect to the right-wing party.

Labour chair Anna Turley said: “Robert Jenrick says the Tories broke Britain. Now he wants to do the same again with Farage’s Reform.

“He’s a shameless chancer who, like the other failed Tories who have scuttled off to Reform, are more interested in their careers than the country.

“With Jenrick in tow, Reform clearly wants to deliver the same chaos and decline he did while in government.”

After he was unveiled at a Westminster press conference by Farage, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This was a conman introducing a charlatan. Robert Jenrick has an industrial-grade brass neck to be complaining about how broken Britain is, when it was him and his Conservative cronies who did such damage to our country and to trust and faith in politics.

“Reform and the Conservatives are two sides of the same coin. Right across the country it is the Liberal Democrats who are leading the fight to defeat them.”

Jenrick used the press conference to launch an astonishing personal attack on two of his former Tory shadow cabinet colleagues.

He said shadow chancellor Mel Stride “was the cabinet minister who oversaw the explosion of the welfare bill” when he was work and pensions secretary.

And he said shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel had “created the migration system that enabled five million migrants to come here”.

However, he praised both of them on X when he was still in the Tory Party.

A senior party source told HuffPost UK: “Knifing two colleagues like that is spectacularly bad form. I hope they duff him up in the lobby next week.”

Why Both The Tories And Labour Are Facing Backlash Over A Freed Egyptian Activist

Posted on 28/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Keir Starmer has just welcomed the news that an activist had been released from Egypt and returned to the UK after years of imprisonment.

But, no sooner had the prime minister confirmed the announcement than the Tories were pointing out Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s shocking old social media posts and attacking the government.

Then, to add a further twist, critics quickly noted that the Conservatives had been campaigning themselves to get the activist released when they were in power.

As the argument hots up online over who is in the wrong, here’s what you need to know.

Who is Alaa Abd El-Fattah?

A British-Egyptian dual national who was detained in Egypt in September 2019, he was sentenced to five years behind bars in December 2021 having been accused of spreading fake news.

However, the UN branded his imprisonment a breach of international law.

He finally returned to the UK on December 26, Boxing Day.

Starmer wrote on X: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief.

“I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those that have worked and campaigned for this moment.

“Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office. I’m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.”

What happened to his social media?

Abd El-Fattah’s release sparked an online deep dive into the activist’s old posts.

In some, dating back to 2010, his account appears to call for violence towards “Zionists” and the police.

To make matters worse for the government, these posts have been unearthed before.

In 2014, the group nominating the activist for the European parliament’s Sakharov prize even decided to withdraw their support for Abd El-Fattah over his anti-Israel posts.

The activist later claimed his online posts had been taken out of context and were written at a time of an Israeli offensive in Gaza.

What do the Tories have to do with this?

The Conservatives also pushed to get Abd El-Fattah released when they were in government and granted him citizenship.

Even so, shadow justice secretary and Tory MP Robert Jenrick has now called for him to be stripped of that citizenship and deported.

He condemned the PM for welcoming Abd El-Fattah as a “serious error of judgement” in a public letter to Starmer.

How has it been received?

Successive governments are now in the spotlight over this incident.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had already flagged its worries with the government, adding: “The social media history that has emerged from Alaa Abd el-Fattah is of profound concern. His previous extremist and violent rhetoric aimed at ‘Zionists’ and white people in general is threatening to British Jews and the wider public.

“The cross-party campaign for such a person, and the warm welcome issued by the government, demonstrate a broken system with an astonishing lack of due diligence by the authorities.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also wrote on social media: “Whilst Robert Jenrick is right to criticise Starmer … we must not forget that it was the Tory government who started this … Labour are only doing the same as the Tories, just worse.”

Tory MP Alicia Kearns said: “I trusted the process to give Alaa citizenship, and then supported the campaign for his release. I feel deeply let down, and frankly betrayed, having lent my support to his cause, which I now regret.

“It is wholly improper for British citizens to be detained without due process by foreign states; however Alaa must unequivocally apologise and make clear he now wholly rejects the hatred and antisemitism he expressed, which is so wholly incompatible with British values.”

How has the government responded?

It’s understood that Starmer was not aware of Abd El-Fattah’s posts when he welcomed him back to the UK – but No.10 has made it clear it does not support his views.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Mr el-Fattah is a British citizen. It has been a longstanding priority under successive governments to work for his release from detention, and to see him reunited with his family in the UK. The government condemns Mr el-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.”

However, there’s a risk this issue could continue hanging over the government well into the new year, as opponents call for greater action.

Unexpected Boost For Starmer As Tory Peer Admits He Would Vote Labour

Posted on 26/12/2025 by Boris Clair

A Conservative peer has offered up a surprise boost for Keir Starmer as he would still vote for Labour despite the government’s difficult time in office.

Lord Rose, the chairman of Asda, told LBC that there is widespread frustration with Labour – but suggested that’s still better than the alternatives.

“We’re in a situation now where I think many people in this country would be disappointed with the government they have elected,” Rose told LBC.

“We’ve now got a situation where I don’t believe the Conservatives can make a recovery in time for the next election.

“So let’s assume it’s the election after that.

“You are now going to find yourself in a very difficult situation in 2027, ’28, ’29, where if Labour don’t start delivering some [economic] growth, the Conservatives haven’t recovered in time, and you’ve got the other option – what are you going to vote for?

“Are you going to vote for Reform or are you going to vote for a second government?”

He said: “I would vote for another Labour government, but I would want some change in the meantime.”

Asked why he would vote for another round of Labour, he said: “It’s a question of degrees of pain, isn’t it?

“If I can’t have a resurgent Conservative Party, and they’ve got a lot of work to do to make themselves re-electable – or I’ve got the alternative, which, frankly, is supping with the devil.”

Asked what Kemi Badenoch has to do to secure the Tory peer’s vote again, he said: “She’s got to be doing more of what she’s begun now, I think, but I just think, it does, in all these things, require time, and I’m not sure time is on their side.”

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

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‘Why would you vote Labour?’
‘It’s a question of degrees of pain.’

Conservative peer Lord Rose explains why he would vote against his party in future elections. pic.twitter.com/yKdhbM6eIY

— LBC (@LBC) December 25, 2025

Pact Or No Pact, Reform May Already Turning Into The Tories 2.0

Posted on 05/12/2025 by Boris Clair

Nigel Farage seemed to attract even more attention than usual this week – and not exactly the kind he likes.

Not only has the Guardian revealed 28 witnesses have now accused him of making anti-semitic and racist remarks while he was at school but, according to the Financial Times, he told donors he expected to make a merger or a pact with the Tories before the next election.

When it comes to the allegations against him, the Reform leader has only admitted to engaging in “banter in a playground” and rebuffed the FT’s story completely.

But the reports evidently got to him. Farage stunned journalists on Thursday with a furious rant against the BBC and ITV in a press conference, accusing them of “hypocrisy”.

He also claimed there would be no deal with the Conservatives, and that any such allegations were “ludicrous”.

But, he did suggest Reform could engineer “reverse takeover” where he would absorb the party by winning over defectors.

But Farage insisted: “A deal with them as they are would cost us votes.”

Reform are indeed still ahead in the polls. More in Common predicted in a September mega-survey of 20,000 Brits that the next general election looks like it might be theirs to lose.

And the racism row is yet to put a major dent in their consistent poll lead: YouGov found the party is still ahead on 25% as of December 1, with Labour on 22% and the Tories on 19%.

If it did not scare off too many supporters, a combined the Tory and Reform votes would give a joint right-wing party a very generous lead in the polls (44%, according to YouGov).

But Farage’s apparent dismay over the idea of working with the Conservatives ignores an obvious fact that his party is already made up of former Tories.

“There’s a chance that Reform begin to look like the same sort of political party the public are so keen to break away from.”

He has accepted 21 individuals who have previously been elected as Conservative MPs to his party just since the 2024 general election.

Danny Kruger was serving in the shadow cabinet when he crossed the floor to join Reform in September.

Former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns became Reform’s first mayor when she was elected to represent Greater Lincolnshire in April, while ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries joined earlier this year.

Former MPs, Ee-deputy party chair Jonathan Gullis, Lia Nici and Chris Green, also joined just this week.

In fact, the party’s first MP was Lee Anderson, the former deputy chairman for the Tories who defected to Reform in early 2024.

Reform’s deputy Richard Tice was a Conservative donor and party member up until 2019, and Farage himself was a Tory until 1992.

The party leader even failed to rule out accepting right-wing Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick into the fold at some point in the future.

He justified accepting former Tory MPs by admitting people who have been in government just help strengthen the party, and seems to position Reform’s success directly against the Conservatives’ decline – even if unintentionally.

Just this week, when playing down reports of a merger, he said: “We will ensure [the Tories] cease to be a national party in May.”

But one more prominent voice has tried to clear a distinct line between the two blue parties.

Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf even had to tell supporters on X grassroots would get priority over “washed up” ex-Tory MPs.

He said: “I’ve had many messages from Reform grassroots worried about former Tory MPs joining our party.

“I want to be clear to our Reform grassroots: YOU will be prioritised in candidate selection for our next class of MPs, NOT failed former Tory MPs.”

British Reform party leader Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf, left, show the program Operation Restoring Justice during a press conference in a hangar at Oxford Airport in Kidlington, England, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.

This wariness from Yusuf about becoming the Tories 2.0 may be well-placed.

Political research director of pollsters at Savanta, Chris Hopkins, told HuffPost UK Reform risk starting to look like the sort of party the public are rejecting.

“Nigel Farage remains Reform’s greatest, and arguably sole, electoral weapon. It is he, and not really the infrastructure behind him, increasingly comprising of former Tories, that cements Reform’s appeal as an anti-establishment force,” Hopkins said.

“Providing he remains dominant at the top of the party, Reform will continue to be strong, but if a cabal of ex-Tories behind the scenes seek to undermine him, there’s a chance that Reform begin to look like the same sort of political party the public are so keen to break away from.”

The polling expert said that as a new party, Reform’s broadest appeal is that they no longer present a great electoral risk.

He said: “If they can’t trust the Tories to be competent after 14 years in government, and they can’t trust Labour after 18 months to have done any better, then why not roll the dice on something completely different. In short, how bad could they actually be?

“But that still relies on Reform UK looking different to the Tories.

“Minor defections don’t really move the needle with the public, but if there does become a sense that Reform UK are just the Conservatives 2.0, I’m less convinced of their appeal compared to what they have cultivated so far, which is a clean break and an alternative from the Con-Lab status quo.”

“”The last thing this country needs is a rinse and repeat of the last Conservative government.”

Their political opponents have been quick to criticise the idea of a merger, too, no matter how much Reform deny it.

Keir Starmer dubbed the idea of a Tory-Reform pact an “unholy alliance of austerity and failure” during prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.

A Labour Party spokesperson told HuffPost UK that Reform was becoming an “unsavoury cocktail of ex-Tories”.

“The Tories were responsible for breaking our public services and hammering family finances while in power. Now they are the recycled face of Nigel Farage’s party,” the representative said.

“Reform can’t fool the public. This unsavoury cocktail of ex-Tories want to inflict that damage all over again. It’s a risk working people simply can’t afford. ”

The Liberal Democrats called Reform a “Tory tribute act only separated by a slightly different shade of blue”.

“The last thing this country needs is a rinse and repeat of the last Conservative government,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile the Green Party told HuffPost UK: “Conservative MPs defecting to Reform doesn’t concern us, we don’t want to intrude on the private grief of the right wing parties of inequality battling it out.”

While Reform has not taken any huge Tory figures yet, what the party chooses to do next – before the big test of the local elections in May – could define it in terms of its place on the political stage.

Will Farage play it safe by officially stepping into right-wing vacuum left by the Tories’ decline – or will he firmly establish Reform as an entirely new entity?

Reform UK Councillor Defects To Tories After Feeling ‘Uncomfortable’ Over Anti-Migration Policies

Posted on 02/11/2025 by Boris Clair

A Reform UK councillor has defected to the Conservatives because he had become “uncomfortable” with the party’s policies.

James Buchan, elected to sit in the borough of Dartford in Kent only in July, announced that he struggled with the idea of facing his family while still being part of Nigel Farage’s party.

He said: “I stood for election with the sole aim of working for my community and getting things done for local families. Having had the opportunity to see Reform from the inside, I’ve concluded that the party doesn’t really have the experience or ambition to do that.”

Buchan suggested Reform’s anti-immigration plans spread fear and that “relying on rhetoric and slogans isn’t going to help real families in communities” like his own.

He added: “The more I saw of Reform UK, the more uncomfortable I felt to be part of it.”

He said he wanted to be able to “look my family in the eye and say, ‘that’s not who I am’,” pointing to Farage’s plans to end indefinite leave to remain status which “could be devastating for decent people who have built a life here and contribute to our country”.

Reform wants to replace the current policy with visas which would require people to reapply to live in the UK.

Buchan claimed these plans had created a “huge amount of fear and anxiety” and that Farage’s party had a “pretty unfortunate way of treating people”.

A Reform source said: “He got elected in July 2025 as a Reform councillor. He should resign his seat but he won’t because he knows he will lose under the Tory banner. We look forward to winning this seat back as soon as possible.”

Dartford’s Conservative council leader Jeremy Kite welcomed Buchan, saying: “James knows that getting elected isn’t about power, it’s about service and being supportive of people.”

The defection comes shortly after Reform also failed to win the Caerphilly by-election for their first seat in the Welsh parliament.

But, the party is still leading in the polls and still has a series of Conservative defections under its belt.

‘A Breach Of Human Decency’: James O’Brien Savages Tory Frontbencher’s Immigration Comments

Posted on 20/10/2025 by Boris Clair

LBC presenter James O’Brien accused a senior Tory of a “breach of the tenets of human decency” after she said some immigrants living legally in the UK should be deported.

Shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam told The Times that would leave the UK more “culturally coherent”.

Lam said: “Everybody who’s in this country illegally I think needs to go home.

“There are also a large number of people in this country who came here legally, but in effect shouldn’t have been able to do so. It’s not the fault of the individuals who came here, they just shouldn’t have been able to do so. They will also need to go home.

“What that will leave is a mostly but not entirely culturally coherent group of people.”

In a monologue on his LBC show on Monday, O’Brien said: “This is an extraordinary breach of what I would describe as the basic tenets of common decency, and it speaks to something that has been happening over the course of the last 12 months, that we are all a little bit guilty of not registering.

“So people like me, and by association you, are not talking about it because it makes us feel so gross and so grim. People sitting next to Katie Lam in the House of Commons, or indeed sitting above her in the hierarchy of the Conservative Party, are not talking about it because they’re frightened of upsetting all the potential voters who agree with her.

“It puts Nigel Farage in a very strange position in that he could reasonably argue that he is no more racist in his pronouncements, or no more far right wing in his attitudes, than senior members of the Conservative Party.”

He added: “How is this happening? How are we becoming as a country where senior mainstream politicians can call for people who have every right to be here to be deported?”

Reform UK have said they would scrap indefinite leave to remain status for immigrants, meaning some who have lived legally in the UK for decades could be deported.

Kemi Badenoch Can Announce All The Tax Cuts She Wants. No One Truly Believes She’ll Ever Be Prime Minister

Posted on 08/10/2025 by Boris Clair

Kemi Badenoch has just announced that a Tory government led by her would abolish stamp duty.

The Tory leader also pledged to overturn Labour’s decision to add VAT to private school fees and scrap the changes to inheritance tax which have angered farmers.

She unveiled the eye-catching policies in a better-than-expected speech closing the Conservative conference which should be enough to see off any imminent threats to her leadership.

But the main problem for the party’s leader is that no one truly believes that she will ever be in a position to deliver any of those policies.

New polling from Ipsos shows that barely one in five voters (22%) expect her to ever become prime minister.

Unfortunately for Badenoch, that is not a rogue poll. According to YouGov, just 20% of the public believe she has done well since becoming Tory leader last November, while only 11% believe the Tories are ready for government.

The same pollster also found that half of Tory members believe Badenoch should not lead the party into the next election.

An almost identical number – 49% – do not believe she will still be in post the next time the country goes to the polls.

And even among those who voted for her to be party leader last year, 30% believe Badenoch should be replaced before the next general election.

As if to emphasise the desperate state of the Tories’ popularity, a new poll by More in Common this morning gave Reform UK a 13-point lead over Labour, with the Tories a further point behind on just 19%.

Gideon Skinner, senior UK director at Ipsos ,said: “Kemi Badenoch clearly needs to do more to establish herself as a credible alternative to the current Labour government.

“It’s also the case that Keir Starmer certainly has his own problems in public opinion.

“But so far, it is Reform and Nigel Farage who seem to be benefiting from this more than Kemi Badenoch, while the biggest question still facing the Conservatives is how they can rebuild trust with voters who are still very critical of their legacy, so that they will listen to what they have to say in the first place.”

Like Starmer following last week’s Labour conference, Badenoch will be mightily relieved that this week has gone well for her – despite the noises off about plots to replace her with Robert Jenrick.

However, both leaders still face a date with destiny on May 7 next year, when elections will take place for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and in councils across England.

If the opinion polls are even remotely accurate, Labour and the Tories are on course for a disastrous set of results which would in all likelihood seal Starmer and Badenoch’s respective fates.

More in Common’s Luke Tryl said: “Conference speeches rarely in of themselves move the dial. And lots of commentators thought Starmer gave a good speech last week and Reform’s lead grew.

“But I think in this case it will be a good test of whether anyone is still listening. If there’s no shift at all hard to see how anything other than major event gets them back in the game.”

The Tory leader’s policy blitz of the past few days – including a pledge to quit the European Convention on Human Rights – may well by her valuable breathing space.

But the chances of her ever being in position to implement them in government are virtually non-existent.

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