Brexit leader Nigel Farage’s Reform Party has topped a national opinion poll in the United Kingdom for the first time; with Farage stating, “This is just the beginning.” The data, released by Find Out Now on Friday, shows that the Reform Party is leading nationally at 26 percent, followed by the Conservatives at 23 percent, and the ruling leftist Labour Party at 22 percent.
The nationalist and populist party’s surge in the polling in the UK comes despite tech billionaire Elon Musk criticizing Farage earlier this month after the Reform leader refused to embrace anti-grooming gang activist and political prisoner Tommy Robinson. A survey from earlier this month suggested that only 12 percent of people in the UK were actually interested in Farage and Robinson teaming up and that 57 percent of Reform supporters believe that Farage made the correct move in keeping Robinson at a distance.
Another survey published by YouGov suggests that British voters are not overly keen on Musk trying to interfere in their country’s domestic politics either. Just 18 percent of Britons have a favorable view of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, with 60 percent in the UK—as well as Germany—saying he lacks knowledge of their politics.
Much of the dispute between Farage and Musk came as a result of the discussion around the phenomenon of child grooming gangs, of which many are Muslim and Pakistani. A grooming gang victim, Gaia Cooper, who was raped and exploited at just 14 years old, called Musk’s comments unhelpful. She went on to accuse Musk of engaging in “trolling culture” and labeled the billionaire “narcissistic.”
Farage, meanwhile, emerged as the most positively viewed political figure in the UK, ahead of Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Labour leader Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
