Rishi Sunak on the ropes as Reform overtakes Tories in newest ballot
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has overtaken the Tories according to our latest poll in a hammer blow for Rishi Sunak.
The Mirror’s weekly election survey by Whitestone Insight finds the Conservatives are trailing in third place – just two weeks out from the General Election. Reform is on 20% – up three points on last week’s poll – while the Tories remain on a meagre 19% after a grim week for the PM.
Labour support dipped slightly on last week’s survey but Keir Starmer’s party continues to enjoy a massive 20-point lead over the governing party. Claudia Toma, a consultant at Whitestone Insight, described Reform’s surge above the Tories as a “historic moment” and evidence of “disillusion” among Tory voters.
Mr Sunak has been struggling to turn around the Conservative Party’s dire poll rating since gambling on a summer election back in May. His campaign has been setback by a series of self-inflicted blunders and gaffes, including his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early.
The latest official data also showed Labour raking in £4.2million from donors in the second week of the campaign – compared to just over £290,000 for the Tories.
But Mr Sunak’s difficulties got even worse this week amid allegations Tory insiders bet on the date of the General Election. Four people linked to Mr Sunak – the party’s campaign chief, two candidates and a police protection officer – are being looked into.
On Friday he refused to say if he was aware of further Conservative candidates or party officials who had placed a bet on the date of the General Election.
Speaking in North Wales, the Prime Minister said he realises voters “want to send us a message”. But he added: “I warn you, don’t fall into Labour’s trap, don’t sleepwalk to July 4.” He later refused to say whether he was confident none of his Cabinet ministers had also placed a bet when quizzed by LBC.
Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth said: “Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out that further members of the Conservative Party, including Cabinet ministers, are involved in this betting scandal. He needs to come clean with the public.
“He promised integrity, professionalism and accountability, instead his weakness means he has overseen the same levels of sleaze and scandal that have come to epitomise the last 14 years of Tory government. Rishi Sunak needs to take immediate action against all implicated.”
Whitestone Insight interviewed 2029 GB adults online between 19th and 20th June 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of all adults and by past vote.
