Nigel Farage announced he was taking over as leader of Reform UK yesterday (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
It’s almost time for the first televised debate of the 2024 General Election – and it could not have come at a more awkward time for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Yesterday saw three successive polls predicting a massive Labour win on July 4, including a major YouGov projection which showed the party beating its 1997 landslide.
And then, of course, Nigel Farage announced his return to the British political stage.
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His big announcement yesterday set up Reform UK – the party he’s now leading – as a major headache for the Tories in the election.
Polling suggests he’s in with a chance of winning his seat at Clacton in Essex, a centre of pro-Brexit sentiment, next month.
But the bigger question is how his role at the top of the party will boost support for Reform across the country, further eroding Sunak’s vote.
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Meanwhile, a YouGov poll projected Labour increasing its seat count in the House of Commons by a mammoth 220, while the Conservatives were predicted to lose 225.
If that forecast comes true, it would be the worst performance by the Tories at an election since 1906.
But the PM doesn’t have much time to ruminate over yesterday’s bombshells: tonight’s head-to-head debate against Keir Starmer on ITV will start at 9pm.