Labour leads Reform in UK poll in latest sign of Burnham boost
Burnham’s coming to power has also coincided with a rough patch for Reform UK’s Farage
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ANDY Burnham’s Labour Party is leading Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for the first time in more than a year, according to a new poll, adding to signs that Britain’s new premier has boosted the standing of the governing party.
If a general election were held tomorrow, 27 per cent of respondents to a JL Partners survey said they would vote Labour, compared to 25 per cent for Reform.
It is Labour’s first lead over Reform in JL Partners’ polling since March 2025 and its strongest polling performance since November 2024, the polling, research and strategy firm said in a statement.
Burnham is riding a wave of positivity since replacing Keir Starmer on Jul 20, announcing a flurry of new initiatives including cutting VAT on electricity bills, setting up a new 10 Downing Street outpost in Manchester and revealing plans to devolve a portion of income tax revenues to regional mayors in England.
His coming to power has also coincided with a difficult patch for Farage, who is facing ongoing scrutiny of his and Reform’s finances.
“This is the clearest evidence yet that Andy Burnham has changed the political weather for Labour,” said Tom Lubbock, founding director at JL Partners. “Being in front will be a tonic for his policy programme and for what he is trying to do to the party internally: it is far easier to demand discipline and drive through change when you are winning.”
The survey is not the first to show Labour ahead of Reform. Recent polls by More in Common and Survation put Labour in front, by four and two percentage points respectively, while two others showed the two parties neck-and-neck.
JL Partners polled a nationally representative sample of 2,048 people between Aug 1 and Aug 3, the company said.
On a head-to-head 53 per cent of respondents to the survey said Burnham would be a better prime minister than Farage, with only 24 per cent preferring Farage and 23 per cent being undecided.
According to Bloomberg’s composite poll, a rolling 14-day average using data from nine polling companies that doesn’t include data from JL Partners, Labour has been closing the gap with Reform.
As of Jul 27, Labour had risen to 23.7 per cent versus 20.4 per cent in the week before Burnham took power, while Reform had slid from 24.9 per cent to 24.5 per cent over the same period. BLOOMBERG
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