News

The Times

4 May 2025

Nigel Farage has blown apart two-party politics. Here’s what’s next

Luke Tryl of the pollsters More in Common, who ran focus groups in Runcorn on Friday night for the campaign group 38 Degrees with voters who switched from Labour to Reform, said: “We heard three things that ought to be a wake-up call for the government.

First a determination to give the government a kick up the backside. Second real anger over the decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance and restrict disability benefits. Third, a feeling in this election at least it was worth rolling the dice on Nigel Farage.”

Vicky, a supermarket assistant, was typical of those who see little change from a Labour government: “I’m getting up at half past four in the morning, going to work. I’ve got a mortgage and stuff on my own, but I don’t live now. I just survive.”

the i

2 May 2025

Four key areas on Nigel Farage's Reform UK hitlist

Pollsters have said the local elections show that Reform is a rising political power that both Labour and the Conservatives need to watch out for.

Anouschka Rajah, research and analysis manager at polling group More in Common, said Thursday’s results will give the party “the confidence to expand their horizons for where they might be able to make gains at the next general election”.

“The rulebook has been ripped up,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like Reform has to live within the box that we like to put them in.”

The Independent

29 April 2025

Voters name ‘none of the above’ as most popular candidate before local elections

The most popular political leader is “none of the above” a new poll shows just 36 hours before voters go to the polls in the local elections.

It comes amid rising concerns that Reform UK is on the cusp of a major breakthrough, following “deep disillusionment” with Labour and the Tories.

More In Common executive director UK Luke Tryl said: “The public mood going into these elections is one of deep disillusionment, voters are impatient for change but aren’t confident any party can deliver it. As results trickle in on Friday this polling suggests we will see that the fragmentation of the electorate in last year’s general election has only accelerated since then."

The Daily Mail

15 April 2025

Brits back shutting Chinese firms out of key parts of economy in wake of British Steel chaos

Research by More in Common found two-thirds would prefer to see Beijing-linked companies barred from significant UK defence and communications investments.

Some 60 per cent said the same about the NHS, and 55 per cent about transport and energy.

The survey suggested that Brits would support nationalising British Steel, by a margin of 54 per cent to 14 per cent.

The Times

13 April 2025

Women may not love Nigel Farage, but they’re warming to Reform

Although Farage remains broadly unpopular, there is some evidence that he is becoming detoxified among some women. Back in September, he had an approval rating of minus 10 among men and minus 23 among women — a gap of 13 points. That is now minus 12 and minus 16 respectively, a gap of four points (and if those numbers sound low, remember Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rate with women is minus 34).

What sparked this change? According to More In Common, broad disillusionment with the direction of the country. Women are ten points more likely than men to say things are getting worse in Britain (76 per cent to 65 per cent); Gen X (84 per cent) and baby boomer (86 per cent) women are the most pessimistic. For Reform’s most recent converts, the figure is 93 per cent.