YouGov: Reform UK could win as many as four seats

Party is now a threat in several constituencies, says pollster

- ALICJA HAGOPIAN

Nigel Farage's decision to stand as MP and take over as party leader could change Reform UK's chances of winning seats in the general election, says polling firm YouGov.

Reform was on course to come out of the election emptyhanded, according to forecasts on Monday. But the data’s release came hours before The Independent broke the news that Nigel Farage had decided to stand as the party’s candidate in Clacton, Essex. According to YouGov’s director of political analytics, Patrick English, the announcement “significantly increases the odds” that Reform could win at least one seat – and even up to four.

He told The Independent: “I do think that Farage intervening significantly increases the odds of Reform UK winning one, perhaps even two seats in Westminster. You might even put an upper band of four on that, depending on what exactly happens between now and 4 July.”