Labour overtakes Reform in two major polls while Nigel Farage argues with a bin

It comes a day after More In Common data put Labour four percentage points ahead, with 28% to 24%. Embattled Mr Farage – who faces a string of allegations about his and his party’s finances – is currently fighting a humiliating by-election in Clacton with parody candidate Count Binface as his main rival.

Meanwhile separate polling from YouGov and Sky News put Labour and Reform neck-and-neck for the first time since April last year. Both parties are on 22%, it found.

In another blow to Reform, the party’s hopes of seizing the Greater Manchester mayorality on Thursday appear to have fallen away. More In Common suggests Labour’s Bev Craig is on 39% to Reform’s 19%. Mr Farage and co had hoped to capitalise on Mr Burnham vacating the post after a strong performance in the local elections.

Mr Farage is enduring a torrid time as questions mount up about his acceptance of an undeclared £5million ‘gift’ from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Reform leader was facing a probe by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after the large sum came to light in April.

Despite the ongoing investigation, he decided to trigger a by-election for his Clacton seat in a move expected to cost taxpayers between £250,000 and £300,000. Embarrassingly no other parties wanted any part of it, dismissing the contest as a circus and leaving him to battle Count Binface and 32 other candidates.

Mr Farage was given the money in 2024, shortly before he announced he would stand to run in the general election. Parliamentary rules state gifts and donations in the 12 months before becoming an MP should be declared, but Mr Farage argues it was an unconditional personal gift.

It is expected the investigation will start again if Mr Farage beats Binface next month. In more bad news for him, head-to-head polling by YouGov found 48% of Britons back Mr Burnham to be the better PM, while just 22% favour the Reform leader, who has been a lot quieter than normal.

Last summer he regularly called press conferences during a policy blitz, but he has not done so in Westminster for months. He claimed to be triggering a “people versus the establishment” vote in Clacton and claimed he was being unfairly targeted.

However more than half of voters believe he is trying to divert attention from the questions he faces.

On Monday Mr Burnham played down the significance of the More In Common poll. He told broadcasters: “I wouldn’t get carried away by any poll. I’m pleased to have made a start where hopefully I’ve connected with people and I am talking a lot about Britain believing again and getting its hold back.

“And I’m not going to apologise for that. I think we should have a bit more of a spring in our step… I think maybe we’ve lost the bit of that positivity in recent times. And I am on a mission to bring it back.”

On Monday Binface unveiled his ‘manifesto’ if he gets into power. The candidate, who has previously stood against Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Andy Burnham, vowed: “I will not accept £5million gifts from crypto billionaires (on Earth).”

Elsewhere Binface, real name Jonathan Harvey, proposed capping bus fares at £1.99 – a week after the government announced a £2 cap outside London. He also called for the cost of 99 Flake ice creams to be capped at 99p.

Other ideas include a windfall tax on “cosy crime novels” written by celebrities, filling potholes with the Labour Party Manifesto and making arcade grabber games fairer “so players actually have a chance to win”.

And he put himself forward as the UK’s Eurovision representative in 2027, with the 2027 competition to be held in Clacton. Binface stressed he sticks by previous pledges, including bringing back Ceefax, nationalising singer Adele and renaming HS2 as FFS2.