A new Ipsos poll has put Labour three points ahead of Reform UK just days before Nigel Farage contests the Clacton by-election, where he is trying to return to Parliament after resigning as an MP earlier this summer. It marks Labour's fourth consecutive lead in national polls since Andy Burnham became prime minister, ending a run of more than a year in which Farage's party had topped surveys, and comes as a welcome boost for Labour and a setback for Reform in the final stretch of campaigning.

The Ipsos poll of 1,033 adults, conducted between 30 July and 4 August, put Labour on 28 per cent (up four points since June), Reform on 25 per cent (down one), the Conservatives on 18 per cent (unchanged), the Greens on 12 per cent (down one) and the Liberal Democrats on 9 per cent (down two). Burnham also led on the question of best prime minister, backed by 36 per cent of respondents compared with 15 per cent for Farage and 13 per cent for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, though Ipsos's Gideon Skinner cautioned that public satisfaction with the direction of the country remains low. Farage quit as an MP after standards inquiries into undeclared donations and gifts, which he denies wrongdoing over, and faces comedian Count Binface as his main rival in Thursday's Clacton vote after other major parties declined to stand.