Two new polls show Labour has overtaken Reform UK at the top of the national vote intention for the first time in over a year, following Andy Burnham's first week as Prime Minister. The polls by More in Common and Survation both place Labour ahead, suggesting Labour MPs may have been right to replace Sir Keir Starmer with Burnham, though it remains to be seen how the numbers settle once the honeymoon period wears off.
Farage and Polanski face separate woes
Nigel Farage has endured a difficult few months, including a £5 million 'gift' from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, support from convicted fraudster George Cottrell, two parliamentary standards investigations, and a forced by-election in Clacton that appeared to backfire. Meanwhile, Green Party leader Zack Polanski has faced his own troubles. After giving his party a poll boost following his election in September last year, he stirred backlash in April over a social media post criticising police who responded to the Golders Green attack. His favourability, tracked by YouGov, has remained weak.
Polanski's latest gaffe
Polanski returned to the headlines after sharing an Instagram post that included an image of a man wearing a T-shirt with a guillotine and the slogan 'we're only making plans for Nigel'. A Green Party spokesperson said the leader 'was tagged in a post with 20 images and clicked accept without realising there was more to it than he had seen', adding that he 'condemns' the T-shirt graphic. Reform UK has reported Polanski to the police. Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said: 'If Zack Polanski is not in police custody by this time tomorrow, the Police will have declared open season on Members of Parliament.' The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had received a report and said: 'We take reports of this nature extremely seriously, and officers are conducting enquiries into the matter.'
Green and Reform battle for relevance
The background to the clash is reflected in the polls. Survation puts the Greens on 10%, tied with the Liberal Democrats and 11 points behind the third-placed Conservatives. More in Common places them fifth with 8%. This is a far cry from the spring when the Greens briefly overtook both Labour and the Tories in some polls. For now, Burnham appears content to let the two parties brawl while he commands attention with policy announcements.
