Nigel Farage is about to become an MP on his eighth attempt, after a new poll gave the reform leader a huge lead in the constituency in which he is contesting.
Farage is on course to win 42 per cent of the vote in Clacton, with a shift away from the Conservatives that pollsters Survation said was “unprecedented in modern electoral history”.
He leads Giles Watling (27 per cent), the Conservative incumbent, and the Labor Party (24 per cent) in a poll commissioned by his ally, former UK donor Arron Banks.
The figures, if they are close to those that will be known on July 4, will send shivers through the conservatives and will boost Farage’s bid to be an important player in the next Parliament.
It echoes an earlier Ipsos poll which suggested Farage could win 53 per cent of the vote, with the Conservatives a distant third on 17 per cent.
But it’s not all good news for Reform. Independent polls by YouGov show that 55 per cent of voters believe Farage would make a bad prime minister.
And in head-to-head contests to determine who voters think would make a better prime minister, he loses to all the other senior party leaders, including Liberal Democrat chief Ed Davey.
Farage is on course to win 42 per cent of the vote in Clacton, with a shift away from the Conservatives that pollsters Survation said was “unprecedented in modern electoral history”.
It came as Rishi Sunak hit back at billionaires abandoning the Tories by saying they “can afford Labour’s tax rises” and refused to rule out working with Nigel Farage after the election.
Half of 2019 Conservative voters told Survation they would vote for the Reform Party leader, compared to just 38 per cent who will remain loyal and vote for Watling.
One in ten former Conservative voters will vote for Labor candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, while Farage is also attracting the support of 10 per cent of 2019 Labor voters.
It came as Rishi Sunak hit back at billionaires abandoning the Tories by saying they “can afford Labour’s tax rises” and refused to rule out working with Nigel Farage after the election.
In a blunt LBC radio phone-in, callers accused the Prime Minister of being a ‘Nigel Farage’ for his behavior towards the trans community and of being too rich to associate with food bank users.
He was asked about John Caudwell, founder of Phones4U and former major Conservative donor, and Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who supported Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Mr Sunak responded: “They are two of the richest men in Britain.” They can probably afford to raise Labour’s taxes.
The Conservatives are trying to use taxes as a key divisive issue and are stepping up attacks on Labour’s plans in a desperate bid to turn around its stubborn double-digit poll deficit.
Sir Keir Starmer criticized Mr Sunak for “talking rubbish”, telling reporters during a campaign visit to Wiltshire that the Prime Minister “should stop lecturing anyone about the economy”.
He said Mr Caudwell’s shift in support, “because he believes we are the party of growth and wealth creation”, is a “serious” move.