Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Reform UK is 16 points ahead of Labour in a new poll after Sir Keir Starmer’s attack on Nigel Farage. The survey by Find Out Now puts the insurgent party in the lead with 35%, up two points from the week before.
Labour is trailing behind in second place with 19%, also up two points. The Tories are third on 14%, while the Lib Dems are down four on 12% and the Greens are down one on 11%.
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The poll of more than 2,000 people, which was carried out yesterday, comes after the Prime Minister used Labour’s conference to repeatedly attack Reform UK.
Sir Keir branded the right-wing party’s immigration policy to scrap indefinite leave to remain as “racist”.
But he later insisted Reform leader Mr Farage and his supporters are not “racist”.
Sir Keir’s attacks prompted the Clacton MP to accuse him of risking the safety of Reform campaigners.
Mr Farage said his claims “will incite and encourage the radical left” as he accused the PM of descending “into the gutter”.
The Brexiteer said Sir Keir should feel “ashamed” of his remarks, which he called an “absolute disgrace” in the wake of the fatal shooting of conservative US activist Charlie Kirk.
Reform 16 Points Ahead of Labour in Bombshell Poll After Keir Starmer’s Attack
Reform UK has opened a substantial lead over Labour in a new opinion poll, with Nigel Farage’s party recording 35% support compared with 19% for Labour. The 16-point gap has attracted attention because it follows a period in which Keir Starmer has increasingly criticised Reform and its political programme.
The poll, conducted by Find Out Now, placed Reform on 35%, two points higher than in the previous survey, while Labour also increased by two points to 19%. The Conservatives were on 14%, followed by the Liberal Democrats on 12% and the Greens on 11%.
The figures provide a snapshot of voting intention at one particular moment. They do not establish what the result of a future general election would be, but they do illustrate the changing competitive environment facing Britain’s established parties.
Reform moves further ahead
Reform’s 35% figure is particularly notable because the party was created as an alternative to the traditional Conservative and Labour parties and has spent much of its recent political history attempting to establish itself as a permanent force in British politics.
The party’s campaign has focused heavily on immigration, taxation, national sovereignty and criticism of the established political system.
Farage has also sought to present Reform as a party willing to challenge policies pursued by successive governments.
The latest Find Out Now figures suggest that message is attracting a significant share of voters.
However, polling should always be interpreted within its methodology and timing. A single survey cannot demonstrate that every voter has changed allegiance or that the same percentages would be repeated on election day.
Starmer’s confrontation with Reform
The poll follows increasingly direct criticism of Reform from Starmer.
The Labour leader has repeatedly attacked Farage’s political approach, particularly over immigration and the rhetoric surrounding migrants.
Such confrontations have become an increasingly visible feature of British politics as Reform has expanded its support.
For Reform, attacks from established political leaders can be incorporated into the party’s broader argument that traditional politicians are attempting to prevent its rise.
Farage has frequently portrayed himself and his party as outsiders challenging the political establishment.
That creates an unusual dynamic. When Labour or Conservative politicians criticise Reform, they may be attempting to weaken its support, but Reform can respond by presenting those attacks as evidence that the established parties are concerned about its growing influence.
The latest poll therefore arrives at a politically significant moment.
Labour’s difficult position
For Labour, a 19% voting intention figure represents a significant challenge.
The party won the 2024 general election with a large parliamentary majority, but the subsequent political environment has changed considerably.
Labour now faces competition from several directions.
Reform is attempting to attract voters dissatisfied with the government’s approach to immigration and other issues. The Conservatives are seeking to rebuild after their 2024 defeat, while the Liberal Democrats and Greens continue to compete for voters who may otherwise support Labour.
This fragmentation makes the political landscape considerably more complicated than a straightforward Labour-Conservative contest.
The latest poll illustrates that point clearly.
Labour is not simply trying to maintain support against one opposition party. It is operating in an environment where voters have several alternatives.
Immigration remains central
Immigration has been one of the most important issues behind Reform’s political strategy.
Farage has repeatedly argued for substantially tighter controls on immigration and has made the Channel small boats crisis a central part of his political message.
For many Reform supporters, immigration is connected to broader concerns about housing, public services, wages, national identity and the government’s ability to control Britain’s borders.
Labour has also faced pressure to demonstrate that it can reduce illegal migration while maintaining its approach to asylum and international obligations.
The political disagreement is therefore not simply about immigration numbers. It also concerns the asylum system, border enforcement, legal migration and Britain’s relationship with international agreements.
These questions have become particularly important because immigration remains one of the issues on which voters can hold sharply different views.
The changing Conservative position
The Conservatives’ 14% in the Find Out Now poll is another important feature of the figures.
For years, the Conservative Party was the principal alternative to Labour. Reform’s rise has changed that relationship.
A substantial proportion of voters who previously supported the Conservatives have become potential Reform supporters, particularly among people who believe the Conservative governments failed to deliver sufficiently on issues such as immigration and Brexit.
This has created a strategic problem for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
The Conservatives must distinguish themselves from Reform while also appealing to voters who may regard Farage’s party as a more credible alternative.
The result is an increasingly competitive contest on the political right.
Reform’s challenge goes beyond polling
Strong polling numbers can provide political momentum, but they also create expectations.
Reform has spent years criticising the established parties from opposition. If its support continues to expand, it will face increasing pressure to demonstrate how its proposals would work in practice.
That includes questions about public spending, taxation, healthcare, immigration, defence, infrastructure and economic policy.
The party’s supporters may view its rise as evidence that voters want a fundamental change in political direction.
Critics can point to the difference between opposing government policy and implementing an alternative programme.
Both aspects are relevant when assessing Reform’s development as a political organisation.
Why one poll should not be treated as an election result
The 16-point lead is striking, but opinion polls are measurements rather than election results.
Voting intentions can change rapidly in response to political events, economic conditions, leadership changes, government announcements and election campaigns.
Different pollsters can also produce different results because of differences in methodology, sampling, weighting and fieldwork dates.
For that reason, the Find Out Now survey should be considered alongside other polling rather than treated as definitive evidence of Britain’s future electoral outcome.
Other recent polling has produced a more varied picture. YouGov’s September 2026 polling, for example, showed Labour’s Westminster voting intention in Wales at 18% and Reform at 19%, while Plaid Cymru was on 27%.
The contrast demonstrates how results can vary by poll, geography and question.
A fragmented political system
The broader story behind the latest figures is the fragmentation of British politics.
The traditional two-party structure remains important, but voters increasingly have alternatives.
Reform has established itself as a significant competitor on the right. The Greens have developed their own support base, particularly among some younger and progressive voters, while the Liberal Democrats remain competitive in parts of the country.
In Wales and Scotland, national parties add another dimension to the political landscape.
This means that a party can lose support to several competitors simultaneously.
Labour’s challenge is therefore not simply to defeat Reform. It must also maintain support among its traditional voters while addressing concerns that could push some supporters towards other parties.
Starmer’s response
For Starmer, the latest figures raise questions about how Labour should respond to Reform’s growth.
Directly attacking Farage may help Labour distinguish itself from Reform and reassure supporters who strongly oppose its policies.
But political attacks alone cannot determine public opinion.
Labour must also demonstrate what it intends to achieve in government and explain how its policies will affect voters’ everyday lives.
Issues such as household finances, the NHS, housing, taxation, employment and public services are likely to remain important alongside immigration.
The political challenge is therefore broader than responding to Farage personally.
Farage’s opportunity
For Farage, meanwhile, the poll provides an opportunity to argue that Reform has moved beyond the role of a protest party.
A 35% voting intention figure, if replicated across a sustained series of surveys, would indicate that Reform has established a substantial level of national support.
But maintaining that support would require the party to demonstrate organisational strength as well as political appeal.
Reform has already begun attracting former Conservative politicians, councillors and donors. Its next challenge is to show that its organisation can keep pace with its growing political profile.
That could become particularly important if the party seeks to contest a large number of constituencies in a future general election.
A warning sign rather than a forecast
The latest poll is therefore significant, but its meaning needs to be kept in perspective.
Reform’s 35% and Labour’s 19% show a large difference in this particular survey. They also demonstrate that the political relationship between the two parties has changed considerably from the situation immediately after Labour’s 2024 election victory.
But the numbers do not tell us what will happen at a future election.
They instead provide information about the opinions recorded when the survey was conducted.
For Labour, the figures underline the need to understand why some voters are considering alternatives.
For Reform, they provide evidence of substantial current support while also raising expectations about what the party could deliver.
For the Conservatives, the figures reinforce the significance of the competition on the political right.
And for voters, the increasingly fragmented landscape means that political choices are no longer defined solely by the traditional Labour-Conservative contest.
The latest 16-point gap is therefore best understood as another indication of how rapidly British politics is changing.
Starmer’s attacks on Reform have not prevented the party from recording a substantial lead in this particular survey. Whether that lead proves temporary or forms part of a longer-term shift can only be established through future polling and, ultimately, future elections.
For now, the figures provide a striking snapshot of an electorate in flux — one in which Reform has become a major political force and Labour faces the challenge of rebuilding support in an increasingly competitive political environment.