2024 general election live: Farage claims Conservative party is ‘on the brink of collapse’ as Reform Party wins in opinion polls

Nigel Farage has claimed that Brexit failed because the Conservative government “didn’t deliver” on immigration.

The Reform Party leader slammed the Conservatives for promising to reduce net immigration but his party insisted it was “at 750,000”, calling it a “total breach of trust”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “There’s no doubt about it, we are responsible for these things. Brexit gives us autonomy. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it means we are responsible.”

Bim Afolami has rejected claims that the Conservative Party should consider striking a deal with Reform UK.

Asked by Sky News if his party would accept it, he replied: “No, no. It’s an election. We’re not going to make deals with anybody.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has publicly endorsed the Conservative candidate Sir Simon Clarke in the general election.

The former equalisation secretary is standing in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Mr Johnson claimed he “fervently” wanted Clarke to become an MP and posted a video in support of the candidate.

Leading pollster John Curtice reminded voters that the YouGov poll was just one poll – four others had been conducted in the last 24 hours, none of which showed the Reform Party in the lead, and not all of them showed a growing Reform Party presence.

But he says this is still “bad news” for the Conservatives and the only way for Sunak to reach “base camp” to close the gap with Labour is to squeeze the Reform Party vote.

Curtis claims that all of the Reform Party’s votes come from former Conservative supporters.

Nigel Farage said Reform UK has no seats to compete for in the general election.

The Reform Party leader told BBC Breakfast: “We are hoping for much more than four million votes this time. We hope to break through the electoral threshold.”

“Whatever we do, we may not win the number of seats we should win. But can we win seats in Congress? We can. How many? We have three weeks left and we have momentum.”

He slammed the Conservative party, saying it was “not making any progress in the polls” and said his ambition was to take on Labour as a new opposition party.

Nigel Farage has claimed a Conservative vote will “make” a Labour government “possible” after his party overtook the Conservatives for the first time in a major opinion poll during the election campaign.

A YouGov poll commissioned by The Times put voting intentions at 19% for Reform and 18% for the Conservatives, creating a divide that deals a new blow to the Conservatives’ hopes of returning to power.

Mr Farage praised the poll and said his party was now “the antithesis of Labour” in the eyes of voters, as he and other leading politicians took part in an ITV seven-way debate.

He also reversed Conservative campaign rhetoric, arguing that voting Conservative rather than Reform would result in a Labour government.

According to YouGov, Labour topped the list with 37% of voting intentions, followed by the Liberal Democrats on 14%, the Green Party on 7%, the Scottish National Party on 3%, Plaid Cymru on 1% and other on 2%.

Bim Afolami has denied suggestions the Conservatives had “fears” that the Reform Party would overtake them in the polls.

The Treasury’s economic secretary told Times Radio: “No. A poll is a poll. There are polls almost every day in this campaign and there will be more. This is one of literally hundreds of polls.”

“What this result shows is that if people vote for reform it will be extremely difficult for Keir Starmer to have unlimited powers to do anything he wants – tax your house, your job, your car, your pension.

“A vote for reform is a vote for Keir Starmer”

Here’s what you can expect today:

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak will attend the G7 summit in Italy.
• Chancellor of the Exchequer Laura Trott is due to hold a press conference in London to give the Conservative response to Labour’s manifesto.
• Rachel Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds will join business leaders in central London to discuss Labour’s manifesto.
• Labour’s Wes Streeting is due to visit a men’s mental health charity in Wakefield to discuss the party’s plans to tackle the mental illness crisis.
• Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, is visiting south-west Hertfordshire.
• The SNP will be holding a campaign event in Broxburn where deputy leader Keith Brown will appear alongside Livingston candidate Hannah Bardell.

Nigel Farage has claimed the Conservative party is “on the verge of collapse” after his Reform UK party overtook the party in the latest YouGov poll.

Speaking at the closing stage of ITV’s seven-way debate on Thursday night, the Reform Party leader said: “Britain is broken, everyone knows it and Britain needs reform.”

“Rishi Sunak won’t do that. He’ll be in California by then anyway. And the Conservative party is split down the middle and is likely to collapse in this election.”