
Nigel Farage 'in touching distance' of being PM as new mega-poll puts Reform UK on course for 290 seats in the Commons... as Keir Starmer's ratings slump to an all-time low
The More In Common survey found, if a general election was held today, Reform would become the largest party in the House of Commons with 290 seats.
Although this is below the number of MPs needed for an outright majority, meaning a hung parliament, it was more than twice as many as any other party.
And the pollster said Reform is now 'close to the level where they could command an outright majority'.
More In Common's new MRP (Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification) model, based on polling of more than 10,000 Britons, put Labour on 126 seats.
This is a loss of 285 seats from Sir Keir Starmer 's general election landslide just a year ago, and leaves them with fewer than half as many seats as Reform.
The research put the Tories on 81 seats, down 40 seats from last year, with the Liberal Democrats on 73 seats (up one seat) and the SNP on 42 seats (up 33 seats).
Meanwhile, as Sir Keir marks one year in Downing Street this weekend, the poll found the Prime Minister's personal approval rating had slumped to an all-time low of -43.
More In Common's projection showed a majority of Cabinet ministers would lose their seats in the face of a Reform surge.
This includes Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Labour's main losses were found to be to Reform, with 223 seats directly flipping from Sir Keir's party to Mr Farage's outfit.
This includes many long-standing Labour constituencies in the North of England and in Wales.
Reform was also shown to be growing support in Conservative areas, with the MRP projecting they would win 59 seats that the Tories held in 2024.
The main reason that voters gave for turning away from Labour - regardless of who they would vote for instead - is broken promises and U-turns on previous pledges.
More than a third (36 per cent) selected this as a reason, while also high on the list was failing to deliver on the cost of living (31 per cent), and Labour's changes to the wiinter fuel payments (27 per cent).
Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, said: 'It is an unhappy birthday for the Prime Minister.
'His personal approval has hit an all-time low, while Britons blame him rather than his Chancellor for the welfare mess and think he has lost control of his party.
'Meanwhile our new MRP shows Reform UK as the big winners from the Government's failures.
'Although we are a long way from an election and much will change between, Nigel Farage's party are demonstrating that they are now close to the level where they could command an outright majority.
'Britain's political landscape has transformed entirely from just a year ago.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Telegraph
10 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Phillipson sparks row over two-child benefit cap
Bridget Phillipson has sparked a fresh Labour row over the two-child benefit cap. The Education Secretary faced a backlash after declaring that the Government's benefits climbdown last week would make it harder to abolish the two-child limit. But Labour MPs who led the welfare revolt and Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir Starmer's predecessor, issued fresh calls on Sunday to abolish the 'cruel and immoral' policy. The backbench rebellion on welfare forced Sir Keir to tear up his plans to reform disability benefits, wiping out an estimated £5 billion in savings. Ms Phillipson insisted there was now less scope to abandon the two-child cap, which restricts child tax credit and Universal Credit to two children in most households. She told Sky's Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: 'It does come at a cost, and that's why, in keeping with our fiscal rules, we do need to make sure that we have a strong foundation for the economy. 'We make sure we get this right. These ultimately will be matters that the Chancellor has to consider right across the board.' Pressed on whether the chances of the cap being lifted were lower because there was now less money, Ms Phillipson said: 'The decisions that have been taken this last week do make future decisions harder. 'But all of that said, we will look at this collectively in terms of all of the ways that we can lift children out of poverty.' Sir Keir endured the biggest rebellion of his premiership to date last Tuesday as 49 Labour MPs voted against his welfare Bill despite a string of major last-minute concessions. Out of those rebels, more than one third have also signalled their opposition to the two-child benefit cap since Labour took power. Mr Corbyn currently sits as an independent MP but last week announced his involvement in a new hard-Left party alongside Zarah Sultana, a fellow independent, which fight Labour nationally. Responding to Ms Phillipson's remarks, Mr Corbyn told The Telegraph: 'The two child benefit cap is cruel and immoral. The government should have scrapped this cap the minute it was elected. 'For it to double-down now one year later, all because it couldn't take enough support away from disabled people, is disgraceful. 'Keeping children in poverty is not a tough choice – it's the wrong choice.' The two Labour backbench MPs who masterminded the welfare rebellion also called on the Prime Minister to change course and scrap the cap. Rachael Maskell, who tabled an amendment backed by dozens of Labour MPs that sought to kill the Bill altogether, said it was 'crucial' that no child was denied opportunity. 'It's got to be an absolute focus of this government to lift as many children out of poverty as possible,' Ms Maskell said. 'Slowing the pace of that ambition is not acceptable and therefore starting by ending the two-child limit, as well as the benefit cap, is really important. 'It's absolutely crucial that the government does not waver on this issue, that it finds the expectation of what a Labour Government should do and finds the resource to be able to deliver that.' Neil Duncan-Jordan, whose open letter denouncing the cuts was signed by 42 Labour MPs back in May, told Sir Keir to make child poverty a key priority during his second year in power. He told The Telegraph: 'Whilst not the only lever to pull, lifting the two-child benefit cap is widely acknowledged as the quickest way to lift the largest number of children out of poverty. 'It doesn't fix the problem, but it is an essential part of what needs to happen if we are serious about tackling child poverty.' Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, added that 'of course' the limit should be scrapped. He said: 'If this Labour Government is to rebuild the country, it must start with the scourge of poverty – in all its forms. There can be no credible definition of success that does not include its eradication as a central goal.' Jon Trickett, another prominent Left-wing Labour MP, added: 'It is wrong to keep children in poverty because we are protecting disability benefits. Dividing the poor against each other whilst protecting wealth is entirely wrong.' John McDonnell, who was Mr Corbyn's shadow chancellor and has also been stripped of the Labour whip, condemned briefings over the weekend which suggested that plans to scrap the cap were 'dead in the water'. 'The idea that scrapping the two-child limit is to be some sort of punishment beating of the PLP for voting against disability benefit cuts is disgusting,' he wrote on X. The Child Poverty Action Group has said the number of children in poverty will jump from 4.5 million currently to 4.8 million by 2029 unless Sir Keir takes action. While the two-child limit applies across the UK, the Scottish government confirmed it will provide funding to essentially scrap the policy north of the border from March 2026.


The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
One year of Labour - Politics Weekly live at Crossed Wires festival
One year on from Keir Starmer's election victory and Labour are well behind Reform in the polls, while the government is already having to bend to the will of its backbenchers. So how can Starmer recover? Kiran Stacey talks to Jonathan Ashworth, the chief executive of Labour Together and former MP for Leicester South, and Marie Tidball, the Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, about the party's first year in government, live at the Crossed Wires podcast festival in Sheffield


Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Son of Chinook 1994 helicopter crash victim visits memorial and asks for answers
RAF Chinook ZD576 was carrying 25 British intelligence personnel from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to a conference at Fort George near Inverness when it crashed in foggy weather on June 2 1994 on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland. All 25 passengers – made up of personnel from MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army – were killed, along with the helicopter's four crew members. Joel Hornby, whose father Major Anthony Hornby was one of the victims, visited a memorial cairn at the crash site on Saturday and again on Sunday. Mr Hornby laid a wreath at the cairn (Chinook Justice Campaign/PA) He and other families have said they will press on with seeking a judicial review after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) dismissed their demands for a judge-led public inquiry into the incident, and have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer asking him to intervene. Mr Hornby, who was seven when his father died, visited the site with his one-year-old son and laid a wreath at the cairn along with a note which read 'Dad, we are still fighting for you'. Speaking afterwards Mr Hornby, who lives in Berlin in Germany, said: 'We, the families of those lost, have still been denied answers over 30 years on. 'The MoD has rejected our request for a full judge-led public inquiry, and furthermore, has sealed documents relating to the crash for 100 years. 'We are requesting that the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer live up to his promises on duty of candour and overrule the MoD's decision.' He has also urged people to sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to overturn the MoD decision and release the documents. Following the crash, the Chinook's pilots, Flight Lieutenants Richard Cook and Jonathan Tapper, were accused of gross negligence, but this verdict was overturned by the UK Government 17 years later following a campaign by the families. A subsequent review by Lord Philip set out 'numerous concerns' raised by those who worked on the Chinooks, with the MoD's testing centre at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire declaring the Chinook Mk2 helicopters 'unairworthy' prior to the crash. In a statement after the calls made by the families on Friday an MoD spokesperson said: 'The Mull of Kintyre crash was a tragic accident, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with the families, friends and colleagues of all those who died. 'We understand that the lack of certainty about the cause of the crash has added to the distress of the families. 'We provided a detailed and considered response to the pre-action protocol letter stating the reasons why we cannot accept the demand for establishing a new public inquiry. 'It's unlikely that a public inquiry would identify any new evidence or reach new conclusions on the basis of existing evidence. 'The accident has already been the subject of six inquiries and investigations, including an independent judge-led review.' The MoD did not wish to make further comment on Sunday.