Keir Starmer is facing election meltdown as a nightmare new poll puts Nigel Farage’s Reform UK 18 points ahead of Labour. A survey by Find Out Now found 34% of voters would back Reform if an election was held today – more than twice the 16% that said they would back Labour.
And it found the Conservatives were level with Labour, as 16% of voters said they would vote Tory. Find Out Now has consistently given Reform a bigger lead than other polling companies. But the firm says that other firms are under-estimating the Reform vote. Mr Farage enjoyed a major coup this week as he unveiled MP Danny Kruger, previously a senior Conservative, as the latest politician to join Reform. Mr Kruger will help the party prepare for Government.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been rocked by a series of disasters including the resignation of deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and the sacking of former ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson.
In the latest blow, Tories claimed Chancellor Rachel Reeves has “lost control of the public finances” after damning official figures show borrowing has reached record levels.
The huge debts racked up by the Treasury will force the Chancellor to raise taxes in her Budget on November 26. But even then, the nation will be paying the price for years or decades to come, Tories warned.
New official figures showed borrowing in the financial year to August 2025, a period of just five months, was £83.8 billion. This was £16.2 billion more than in the same five-month period of 2024.
And it is the second-highest April to August borrowing since monthly records began in 1993. The one year it was higher was 2020, in the height of the Covid pandemic, when the Government borrowed to pay for schemes such as furlough as the economy closed down.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are too weak and distracted to take the action needed to reduce the deficit.
“The Chancellor has lost control of the public finances, and Labour’s weakness means much needed welfare reforms have been abandoned. No wonder our borrowing costs recently hit a 27-year high.
“The Conservatives are the only party committed to fiscal responsibility and living within our means.”