Labour Catches Reform in the Polls, Surveys Suggest
Labour has caught up with Reform UK in the opinion polls for the first time in months, surveys suggest, in a shift being credited to Andy Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street. The change — dubbed a “Burnham bounce” — has narrowed or erased a lead that Nigel Farage’s party had held for much of the year. Mr Burnham has also overtaken his rivals as the public’s preferred prime minister.
The polling suggests the new Prime Minister has, at least for now, halted Labour’s slide and unsettled a resurgent Reform, whose momentum had alarmed the government. Analysts caution that early honeymoons are common and often fade, and that Mr Burnham faces bruising fights over welfare, social care and the public finances that could quickly test his standing. Reform, meanwhile, is contending with questions over its funding. Whether the bounce endures will depend on how the summer’s difficult decisions land. Watch the next round of polling, taken wholly under his premiership.