Surge in support for Reform in by-election puts Labour seriously under threat, warns expert
A SURGE in support for Reform in a hotly-contested by-election puts Labour seriously under threat, an expert has warned.
Nigel Farage’s party finished a close third with more than 26 per cent of the vote narrowly behind both Labour and the SNP in the ballot in Hamilton, Scotland.
The party said it was a “remarkable” turnaround picking up 7,088 compared to just 58 votes in the constituency in 2021 as it attempted to win its first seat in Holyrood.
Election guru John Curtice said it would be a “serious misreading” to believe that Labour had turned round its election fortunes, with the Scottish elections next May.
He told the BBC: “Reform are making the political weather north of the border, as indeed they are south of the border.”
Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said: “We’ve come from nowhere to being in a three-way marginal, and we’re within 750 votes of winning that by-election and just a few hundred votes of defeating the SNP.”
The performance came just hours after Zia Yusuf resigned as party chair plunging the party into chaos following a row about banning burqas.
In a parting shot, he said he no longer believed trying to get Nigel Farage elected as PM was a “good use of my time”.
Mr Yusuf’s shock resignation – just weeks after masterminding their local elections triumph – came after an internal row about banning the burqa.
The multi-millionaire ex-businessman had attacked the party’s newest MP Sarah Pochin as “dumb” for asking Sir Keir Starmer to outlaw the Muslim face covering in the Commons.
But insiders said tensions at the top of Reform had been brewing for some time, with the chairman feeling increasingly sidelined.
In a statement, Mr Yusuf said: “Eleven months ago I became Chairman of Reform.
“I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 per cent, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.
“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”