The Reform UK party has reached the top of the opinion polls for the first time, according to a new survey.
When researchers from Find Out Now asked 2,380 British adults how they would vote if a general election was called tomorrow, the far-right group lead by Clacton MP Nigel Farage was narrowly ahead on 26%.
The populists were followed by the Conservatives, who were on 23%.
Labour, who have had a very tumultous first six months in government, lagged behind both of 22%, although there are just four percentage points between the three parties.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats secured 12%, the Greens 10% and the SNP 3%.
Farage quickly responded to the poll on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing: “Reform LEADS for the first time in a national opinion poll. This is just the beginning.”
Previous polls from Find Out Now show Reform have been creeping up the public’s radar for some months despite having just five MPs.
In December, on the same day Keir Starmer was trying to reset his government, the pollsters announced Reform UK had overtaken Labour for the first time, while the Tories were in the lead.
It suggested British politics was in a three-way fight between the Conservatives, Reform UK and Labour, as all three parties were separated by just three points.
The new survey also comes as another pollster, Ipsos UK, found confidence in the direction of the country had fallen back to almost the same level it was before the July general election.
Almost two-thirds (62%) said the UK is going in the wrong direction.
Meanwhile, 52% of respondents said they had an unfavourable view of Starmer and 50% said they felt the same about Labour as the governing party.
Yet, Ipsos also found 51% viewed Reform leader Farage unfavourably, and 46% saw Tory leader Kemi Badenoch in the same way.
Ipsos director of politics Gideon Skinner said: “Public sentiment towards the government and leading political figures remains largely negative, marked by widespread dissatisfaction about the direction of the country.
“Interestingly, Nigel Farage stands out as the party leader with the most distinct brand in terms of understanding the problems facing Britain, projecting strength and having a strong personality.
“Though it should be noted the public are roughly twice as likely to have a negative opinion of him as positive too.”