Blow for Starmer as Labour falls to fourth place behind Greens in YouGov poll weeks before crunch local elections
In the new poll conducted a few weeks before the local elections, the Labor Party fell to fourth place after the Greens.
The YouGov poll of 2,367 people found Reform England came out on top with an unchanged 24 per cent, followed by the Conservative Party with 19 per cent. The Greens came in third place with 18 percent of the votes, ahead of the Labor Party with 17 percent of the votes.
The results of the poll could not have come at a worse time, with the local and devolved election campaign continuing and Sir Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister hanging on to the results.
This follows a prediction that suggested Labor could lose as many as 1,700 seats on the council on May 7, potentially being pushed into third place in the Welsh and Scottish parliaments.
Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats are in fifth place with 13 per cent of the vote, and the party is struggling to resonate with the public despite having 72 MPs.
Meanwhile, the Restore Britain party, founded by Rupert Lowe after his disagreement with Nigel Farage and Reform, was included in the list for the first time with 4 percent of the votes.
Polls appear to underline a fragmented political landscape, with the UK heading towards a suspended parliament at the next election.
Greens leader Zack Polanski praised the findings as evidence they were “the only party gaining momentum”.
He said: “People all over the country now increasingly see the Greens as the progressive option to stop Reformation.
“We are the only party with a plan to end the affordability crisis by lowering bills, making housing affordable and making the choices Labor refuses to make, putting people first rather than corporate interests.”
Pollster Lord Hayward said: “This confirms what we have seen and is bad news for Labour. “They are being squeezed by Reform in some parts of the country, but in other parts they are actually losing to the Greens.
“The Greens are rallying with profiles similar to London across large parts of the country, not just the student vote or the London phenomenon.”
He added: “This is also bad news for the Liberal Democrats. They have traditionally been the party of protest but they are now also losing out to the Greens, who appear to have replaced them in that role.”
But polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice was skeptical and noted that different polling companies still produced varying results.
He said: “There is a significant gap between pollsters in estimates of Green support, and YouGov is one of those putting it at the highest level. On average (for what it’s worth) Labor is now on 19 and the Greens on 16.”
YouGov has been criticized by Mr Farage and senior members of Reform, who claim they have shown less public support than other pollsters.
On average, YouGov was four points below others in its survey of Reform support. But it shows a decline in support for the party since its peak of 35 percent last year.
