The Tories have slumped to fourth place behind the Liberal Democrats in a shocking new poll that heaps yet more pressure on beleaguered leader Kemi Badenoch. The survey, from Find Out Now, puts Reform well ahead on 33%, followed by Labour 16 points behind on 17%.
The Lib Dems appear to have enjoyed a huge bounce following their party conference, with the party jumping up three points to 16%, just one point behind Labour. The Tories are in fourth, on just 14%, down two points since last week’s poll. The Greens are now just two points behind the Conservatives on 12%, remaining steady since September 18.
The news will be greeted with joy among Liberal Democrats, after Sir Ed Davey used his party’s annual conference to set a course to overtake the Tories and mop up remaining liberal-minded supporters.
Reacting to the poll, senior Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said: “Is this the tipping point? With an irrelevant Conservative Party and a deeply unpopular Labour government, Liberal Democrats now have an historic opportunity and a grave responsibility to be the last best hope against the dangerous populism of both left and right.”
A Lib Dem source quipped: “Thought this was one of our bar charts for a second.”
According to the Electoral Calculous seat predictor, were this poll replicated at a general election, Reform would win the largest majority in British political history.
Mr Farage would win an eyewatering 436 seats, giving him a majority of 222. The Lib Dems would become the official opposition, but with 68 seats – four fewer than they currently have.
Labour would be in third, losing 355 seats and left with just 57; and the SNP would be in fourth with 46 seats.
The Tories, however, would be left with just 11 seats.
Sir Ed Davey’s Lib Dem conference speech called on the party to focus on winning more seats than the Conservatives at the next general election.
He told delegates and members: “Our first target is to win more seats than the Conservatives, for the first time since Herbert Henry Asquith in 1910. Now we have even more ambitious targets than that – but let’s start with the Tories. For when it comes to the Conservative Party – you might have thought the scale of their defeat would have forced a bit of… introspection?
“Maybe they’d… apologise? Show a hint of contrition. Self-awareness? But no.
“Tory ministers who cheered Liz Truss’s budget – now complain about the state of the economy they left. Tory ministers who stopped processing asylum claims and caused the enormous backlog – now make videos complaining about it and protesting outside the asylum hotels they opened.
“The Conservative Party today is like a herd of bulls – going back into the china shop with a camera crew, pointing at all the broken china everywhere – and decrying the state of china shops in “woke, liberal” Britain. The Conservative Party: No shame. No remorse. No wonder the country is saying: No thanks.”
