Britons name ‘none of the above’ as most popular candidate before local elections

Labour’s Keir Starmer, Reform’s Nigel Farage, the Conservative’s Kemi Badenoch and Lib Dem’s Ed Davey all trailing as voters prepare to go to the polls on Thursday

The most popular political leader is “none of the above” a new poll shows just 36 hours before voters go to the polls in the local elections.

It comes amid rising concerns that Reform UK is on the cusp of a major breakthrough, following “deep disillusionment” with Labour and the Tories.

Nigel Farage’s party is expected to win a parliamentary by-election and two mayoral contests as well as take hundreds of seats across England on Thursday.

The party’s success has triggered rising panic among left-wing campaigners and the Fire Brigades Union has launched a new leaflet warning voters that “firefighters do not trust Reform - neither should you”.

The leaflets are targeting Runcorn and Helsby where a crucial by-election is being fought and Labour hope to hold off a Reform surge.

Steve Wright, FBU general secretary, said: “Trade unions have a responsibility to take a leading role in countering the rise of the far right. Farage and Reform present a direct threat to workers’ rights in our country. Reform is a part of the establishment. We cannot allow their divisive anti-migrant politics to pit workers against each other.”

Ahead of Thursday’s local elections, polling company More In Common asked voters who they thought would be most effective at governing the country with 41 per cent responding: ‘None of the above’.

The second most popular choice was Mr Farage with 23 per cent, followed by Keir Starmer on 19 per cent, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch with 8 per cent, the Lib Dem’s Ed Davey on 6 per cent. The Green’s co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, last with 2 per cent.

Overall, the poll showed Labour on 18 per cent, behind Reform on 26 per cent and the Conservatives on 25 per cent, in the areas where elections are taking place.

More In Common executive director UK Luke Tryl said: “The public mood going into these elections is one of deep disillusionment, voters are impatient for change but aren’t confident any party can deliver it. As results trickle in on Friday this polling suggests we will see that the fragmentation of the electorate in last year’s general election has only accelerated since then.

“For many their vote on Thursday will be an expression of deep frustration with the status quo. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK look set to be the big winners of the night, leading in our polling, while the Conservatives on these numbers would lose scores of seats in elections being contested on normally solid turf - both to Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.”

The poll, which also suggests that Reform voters are the most keen to send a national message in the local elections, was commissioned as part of Channel 4 News live special ‘Election 2025: The Debate’.

Tory, Lib Dem and Labour voters said they thought competence to run the council was the most important issue at stake on Thursday, a reason cited by 47 per cent of those voting Conservative.

But among those intending to cast their ballot for Reform, the most important issue was national policies on immigration, with 67 per cent highlighting it as their main reason for backing the party.

Some 1,641 council seats are up for grabs on May 1, across 23 local authorities, as well as six mayoralties and the chance to be the new MP for Runcorn and Helsby.

More in Common also found that in the race to be the Hull and East Yorkshire mayor, Olympic boxer and Reform candidate Luke Campbell has a popularity that exceeds that of his party.

Even those who were sceptical of Reform and Mr Farage were positive about the medal winner, they found.

But overall Mr Tryl said: “I don’t think I’m exaggerating to say that the groups that we did over the past week are some of the most disillusioned, disappointed, disaffected that we’ve run.

“There was a real sense that people keep demanding change from politics and they’re not getting that change, and that they are as a result not just thinking things are bad, but starting to lose faith in the inability of the system to change things.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (left) with the party’s mayoral candidate for Hull, Olympic boxer Luke Campbell MBE (PA)

Among people who are considering voting Reform, Mr Tryl suggested, there was a feeling of “we may as well roll the dice on getting something different”.

He added: “This is a disillusionment election, it’s also a bit of a rolling the dice election and trying to send a signal to the powers that be election as well.”