Published: 08:46 BST, 9 August 2026 | Updated: 10:38 BST, 9 August 2026
Labour has pushed ahead of Reform in the polls after hard-Left voters flocked back to the party under Andy Burnham, new analysis reveals today.Â
The Mail's poll-of-polls puts Labour on 25 per cent, a point ahead of Nigel Farage's party in the week he contests a by-election in his Clacton constituency amid questions over his and the party's finances.
The leapfrogging appears to have been powered by voters ditching Zack Polanski's Green Party, which having threatened to challenge the main parties earlier this year has experienced a decline in popularity.
Kemi Badenoch's Tories are also slowly moving up in the polls but remain a distant third in our 14-day rolling average of polls.Â
Mr Burnham has pushed Labour to the left since replacing Sir Keir Starmer last month, setting out a policy platform that includes building thousands of new council houses and shifting power out of Westminster to the North.
Once he returns from a holiday he is to kick off a national tour this week to ask the public how the Government can improve their lives.
Officials said the Prime Minister would be in 'listening mode' as he spends much of the rest of August travelling the country to discuss the cost of living and improving high streets.
But Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused Mr Burnham of 'breathtaking hypocrisy', arguing Labour tax hikes and 'red tape' were 'hammering our high streets', forcing businesses to close and driving up prices for consumers.
The Mail's poll-of-polls puts Labour on 25 per cent, a point ahead of Nigel Farage's party in the week he contests a by-election in his Clacton constituency
Voters in Clacton go to the polls on Thursday after Mr Farage stood down as an MP to trigger a by-election.
The Reform UK leader is standing for re-election and is one of 34 candidates on the 3ft-long ballot paper.
But none of the largest parties in Westminster – Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – are in the running, having dismissed the poll as a stunt.
Mr Farage is being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a ÂŁ5million gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he received before taking his seat in the Commons.
The investigation, looking at whether he should have declared the money when he arrived in Parliament, was suspended on his resignation, but is likely to resume if he wins the by-election.