‘The Farage effect is starting to wear off’: Readers say Reform slump is helping Kemi Badenoch

Iindependent Readers have poured cold water on claims of a Conservative Party revival, suggesting Kemi Badenoch’s rise in the polls says less about renewed faith in the Conservative Party and more about Nigel Farage’s waning appeal.

Many have suggested that Reform UK has hit a hard ceiling, with its anti-establishment image weakened by an influx of familiar Conservative faces. The departures were widely dismissed as self-serving career moves, reinforcing the view that Reform had become a haven for politicians voters had already rejected.

Badenoch’s decision to sack Robert Jenrick was one of the few points of consensus. Even critics of his policies described this move as decisive and statesmanlike; Some argued this allowed the Conservatives to dismiss unpopular figures who were successful on social media but unsuccessful in government.

However, many readers have argued that the Conservatives and the Reform are fundamentally indistinguishable, shaped by the same history of failure after 14 years in power. Some described the two parties as different brands selling the same disreputable product.

Farage, meanwhile, has been portrayed as a protest figure whose appeal is rapidly weakening under scrutiny, with some warning that he would pose serious risks.

A small minority suggested that Badenoch was cautiously affirming that he was competent or genuine. But the overall prevailing mood was one of mistrust.

Here’s what you need to say:

Two cheeks of the same hind side

Really? Does this mean that after more than a year leading the Conservative Party, Badenoch has made marginal progress and is no longer as incompetent and blundering as he once was, or does it mean that the Farage effect has begun to lose its influence as the more far-right Conservative Party defected to Reform UK, thus having a direct impact on falling poll numbers?

So the voters who elected and joined Reform UK did so to move away from the Tories’ 14-year disaster and two-party leadership system. Now all these malicious far right Conservatives are jumping on Reform and that is alienating a lot of people.

I mean, who in their right mind would vote for a political party that is filled with people who have previously voted against it?

Personally, I hope that both the Conservatives and the Reform UK will drag each other into the political quagmire on this issue and neither will be elected, because they are two sides of the same coin, or two cheeks of the same back side!

RaptorRed

Farage should be worried

Nigel Farage should be worried that his party now has less support than the politically bankrupt Conservatives.

What this poll shows is that protest votes and the character of the leader are the biggest determinants of poll results.

This means that at this stage of parliament, polls are meaningless unless the prime minister’s character is questioned.

I think there is absolutely no doubt that Sir Keir Starmer would have been more popular at home if he had stood up to Trump – and let’s be frank, all he had done was make a few remarks that could have been completely ignored, without any real measures designed to check Trump’s insulting and threatening advances.

And if he doesn’t, the opposite will be true.

scholar

Leaders are getting worse

There is one thing that the political leaders of the Labor Party and the Conservatives have succeeded in doing over the last 25 years; They gradually managed to get worse and lose popularity.

Truss and Sunak were the worst prime ministers of all time until Starmer came along. I’m sure Streeting (and even Farage) will continue this trend, Badenoch said.

PicklePink

Far-right extremism or center ground

As more and more Conservatives abandon their sinking ships… Interesting times lie ahead. Only time will tell whether voters really want the far right (Kemi or Nigel) or the wisdom of centre-politics.

just saying

I’m my kind of leader

Amid all this noise, Kemi is just starting her job. He is my kind of leader and the only one who looks like a statesman.

CKB

The opinion of a volatile voter

I completely agree. I consider myself centre-left, but I am also a swing voter. I voted Labor last time because I was not least impressed by the 14 years of Tory government and its two prime ministers (Johnson and Truss) who struck me as utterly frivolous and incompetent. I was on good terms with Cameron (until he called the referendum), Theresa May and Sunak. Likewise, I’m okay with Kemi Badenoch.

As for Jenrick, he is the MP for my constituency; here we press our tongues into our cheeks and call him Honest Bob. As for Farage; an opportunist and a charlatan who has nothing good to offer.

I woke up

Get rid of the lowest performers

This was always going to happen. The Conservative Party has gotten rid of some of its worst-performing politicians who overperformed on social media.

The circus over the Atlantic probably also supports Badenoch.

divided

Popularity does not equal competence

Badenoch may be more popular than Farage but that doesn’t mean either of them are any good to this nation!

rasputin007

looks real

Whether I agree with his policies or not, he seems sincere. We all know Jenrick isn’t like that, but people like this should never have been allowed to infiltrate in the first place. It looked like clinging to power by avoiding elections for years, but there was no quality control.

Johnson and Truss were disastrous for the country, and they are the ones who now make up the Reformation. People were tired of incompetents when they finally found someone competent in Sunak.

FreeLife

A ceiling for Farage

Support for Farage was always likely to reach a ceiling that he could not exceed. In another poll I saw recently, at least 61 percent of voters surveyed said they would vote tactically in their constituencies because they tended to prioritize keeping Reform out of government.

John B Ellis

A Trump mini-me Prime Minister

Although the years of Tory rule were a disaster… we seem to have survived to rebuild our economy and hopefully rejoin the EU (though Starmer should resign).

If Farage gets into No 10, we won’t survive Trump’s mini-me prime minister.

So the fact that Badenoch is less popular than Farage can only be a good thing… I guess?

ScoobytheDog

Some of the comments in this article have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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