Farage crashes to his worst rating since the 2024 election as finance scandal and Clacton humiliation bite - Reform Watch

Nigel Farage has crashed to his lowest approval rating since the 2024 general election as scrutiny of his finances and Reform UK’s funding intensifies. More in Common’s latest polling gives Farage a net approval rating of -32. Only 24 per cent of respondents believe he is doing a good job, while 55 per cent say he is doing a bad one. His raw approval has fallen from 27 per cent on 13 July to 24 per cent. That movement should alarm Reform. Farage has always attracted strong disapproval, but the latest figures suggest that some of the people who previously supported him are beginning to lose confidence. The decline comes during a deepening financial scandal. The Metropolitan Police are investigating £500,000 donated to Reform through Britain Means Business, a company controlled by deputy leader Richard Tice. The money formed part of £1 million transferred to the company by Fiona Cottrell, whose son George Cottrell is a close Farage associate and convicted fraudster. Reform maintains that it complied with electoral law. Farage is also facing questions over a £5 million personal gift from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, received shortly before his return to frontline politics in 2024. A parliamentary standards investigation was suspended after Farage resigned as an MP. He then triggered a by-election in Clacton and announced that he would stand again. The major parties declined to participate, leaving Farage in a record field of 34 candidates where Count Binface has become his most prominent challenger. Andy Burnham has moved sharply in the opposite direction, reaching a net approval rating of +19. Thirty-eight per cent now believe he is doing a good job, compared with 19 per cent who disapprove. Reform has built its political project around Farage’s personal appeal. A falling raw approval rating therefore presents a direct threat to the party’s foundations. The financial scandal and the Clacton farce are beginning to define him, while voters who once admired him appear to be wavering.