Reform Back on Top As Burnham Bounce Falls Flat

Reform back on top as Burnham bounce falls flat

Labour slips to second place behind Farage’s party in new poll

DOMINIC PENNA

Reform UK has regained its lead over Labour in a YouGov poll that suggests the “Burnham bounce” has subsided.

Andy Burnham’s popularity was credited with ending Reform’s long period of poll dominance last week as a first voting intention survey in 16 months saw Nigel Farage’s party fall to second place.

However, the latest YouGov voting intention survey puts Reform on 23%, up one percentage point and ahead of Labour on an unchanged 22%.

Dr Patrick English, the pollster’s head of elections and political data, told the Telegraph: “I would say that there certainly has been a positive response from the British public to Labour’s removal of Keir Starmer and replacement with Andy Burnham, who is currently the most positively rated party leader that we are measuring.

“There has been a response there, and I think that’s to be expected, but even though Burnham leads our favourability ratings he is not hugely popular. So I don’t think we should expect a massive surge in Labour support, and I would caution expectations in that regard because the British public still don’t think that the Government is doing a brilliant job.

“They still don’t think they’re addressing their concerns around the cost of living and around immigration, and they’re going to want to see actual improvement and actual changes in their day-to-day lives before they start giving Labour more reward in the polls and more reward at the ballot box.”

Screenshot 20260805 142956 Brave picsay Reform Back on Top As Burnham Bounce Falls Flat

Last week, a poll by More in Common put Labour ahead of Reform for the first time in more than a year, with Burnham’s party on 28% to Reform’s 24%.

A YouGov poll carried out in Burnham’s first week as Prime Minister found that Labour had gained four percentage points, while Reform had lost two.

The new Prime Minister used his first week to unveil a number of policies aimed at helping address cost of living pressures, including a cut to VAT on energy bills.

In last week’s YouGov survey, Labour and Reform were tied at 22% and this week, Reform nudged ahead. The Tories were at 19%, down two points week-on-week.

Interestingly, the Burnham bounce barely registered with YouGov at all.