REFORM UK is close to knocking the Tories into third place in the polls, a study reveals.
The YouGov survey is the first since Nigel Farage’s shock announcement of his intention to stand as an MP and lead the party.
It shows the Conservatives slumping to 19 per cent, with Reform surging to 17 per cent.
Mr Farage told The Sun it was “good progress, but just the start”. And he warned browbeaten Conservative strategists: “We will be even with the Tories very soon.”
If the results were replicated in the General Election on July 4, the Reform vote could spell a wipeout for PM Rishi Sunak.
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Labour remain on 40 per cent — 21 ahead of the Tories.
The survey was carried out on Monday and Tuesday — after Mr Farage’s announcement but before the TV debate between Mr Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Voters are also split over whether Mr Farage should have been included in the first leaders’ head-to-head on TV.
In a JL Partners poll for The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots show, 42 per cent said he should have, with the same number saying he should not.
Polling expert Scarlett Maguire told the show Mr Farage was odds-on to win the Essex seaside seat of Clacton.
And she said the PM was struggling to cut through to the wider public, adding: “It’s like getting a call from an ex — you just don’t want to hear it.”
