The right-wing Reform UK party continues to grow in popular support with the latest opinion poll putting them almost neck and neck with the ruling Labour Party.
A new poll by YouGov places Nigel Farage’s Party in a close second place – Labour is on 26% of the national vote; Reform UK is on 25%; the Conservatives are on 22%; the Liberal Democrats are on 14%; and the Greens are on 8%.
This is a huge increase in the vote share compared to the 2024 general election, when Labour sat on 35%, the Tories on 24% and Reform UK on just 15%.
The new poll suggests that Reform UK may change the balance of power in British politics by breaking the monopoly on power held by the two largest parties – Labour and the Conservatives.
Reform UK’s vote has grown since the General Election at the expense of all other parties, with 16% of voters who backed the Tories last year now saying they’d support Reform.
The poll’s judgement on Sir Keir Starmer’s first six months in office is damning with 10% saying the government has been successful while a huge 60% believing it has been unsuccessful.
Danger to Muslims?
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The prospect of Reform UK winning a General Election will raise fears of the impact their policy-making could have on minority communities in Britain.
Jahangir Mohammed, director of the Ayaan Institute, believes that the rise of Reform UK represents a “clear and present danger” to British Muslims.
“I am not surprised. Bashing Muslims and migrants is a vote winner. Racist groups and white nationalist parties/movements in the U.S. and across Europe know this and now manufacture Muslim scares and threats to bolster their electoral gains, aided by anti-Muslim media.
“In most seats in Greater Manchester, Reform came second at the last election and could win next time. Reform and Farage pose a clear and present danger to Muslims, minority communities and to multi cultural co-existence in Britain.”
Reform UK is a right-wing political party which has focused much of its attention on tackling immigration issues.
At times, their rhetoric and anti-immigrant arguments have led to them being accused of “racism” by some activist groups.
In August 2024, thousands of anti-racism protesters gathered outside Reform UK’s headquarters with some accusing party leader Nigel Farage of spreading “dangerous rhetoric.”
The protests came as a result of last years far-right summer riots across England, which saw mobs of mostly white men riot in and vandalise areas with mosques and Muslim residential streets.
Hotels allegedly housing refugees or migrants were also targeted by the mob during the flare up.
Polling at the time suggested that many Brits considered right-wing figures, including Reform UK leader Farage, being responsible for the riots – an accusation Farage strongly denies.
In May 2024, while being interviewed on Sky News, Farage sparked heavy criticism when he accused Muslim of not sharing so-called “British values.”
“We have a growing number of young people in this country who do not subscribe to British values, (who) in fact loathe much of what we stand for.”
When asked if he was talking about Muslims, Farage responded: “We are. And I’m afraid I found some of the recent surveys saying that 46% of British Muslims support Hamas – support a terrorist organisation that is proscribed in this country.”
Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, later responded to the comments accusing Farage of Islamophobia.
“Nigel Farage should not be allowed to spout Islamophobia and hatred on our television screens. He is an extremist who has been allowed to corrode our politics for far too long.”
Other members of Reform UK have publicly condemned aspects of the Islamic religion itself, such as Shari’ah law.
Last year deputy leader Richard Tice called for a debate on the use of Shari’ah courts in the UK after an investigation by The Times claimed that Britain is the “western capital” for Shari’ah courts, with 85 now reportedly in use since the first began operating in 1982.
Speaking in Parliament, Tice said: “I think that I’d like to ask the leader if we could have a debate on this issue in the new year, because, in my view, the use of Shari’ah courts to make unofficial rulings about marriages, divorces and family life have no place in the United Kingdom.”
Shari’ah courts, also known as councils, operate as informal bodies issuing religious rulings on marriage and family life. They do not have any legal or political power and Muslims choose to use their services in a private capacity.
Earlier in 2024, Tice also issued a call for a new law which bans anyone from “conducting in any walk of life Shari’ah law” in Britain on right-wing news channel GB News.
Reform UK has addressed allegations of Islamophobia by saying that it has been unfairly labelled as such, and has taken action against candidates who have been found sharing or endorsing content that could be considered Islamophobic or racist.
