Reform UK might be surging ahead in the polls, but it seems like their leader Nigel Farage is still a pretty repellent figure for many voters.
The Reform leader is the British public’s least-preferred choice to be prime minister out of the four main party leaders, according to a new YouGov poll.
The pollster asked people who they thought would be the best prime minister out of a choice between two of Farage, Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey.
Farage was less popular than each of the three other leaders, with Badenoch even beating the Clacton MP.
When it came to a choice between Farage and Starmer, the current prime minister claimed a 15-point lead (44% to 29%). This shrunk to an 11-point lead when Starmer was pitted against Badenoch.
In fact, Farage was the only leader who the public thought would be a worse prime minister than Badenoch. Just 25% of respondents chose him over Badenoch, four points less than the 29% who preferred the Tory leader.
Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was beat both Farage and Badenoch, and was only two points behind Starmer (25% to 27%).
YouGov’s head of data journalism Matthew Smith said: “While Reform UK present such a threat to the two main established parties that both would like to see it derailed before it gains any more momentum, an issue for Keir Starmer is that it may be to his advantage for the public to see the contest at the next election as being one between Reform and Labour.”
He said that Badenoch “does not have the same repellent force to left wing voters that Farage does,” with Green and Lib Dem voters “more likely to favour Starmer when his opponent is Farage rather than Badenoch.”
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