Reform UK has moved into third place in a new poll amid speculation over a sensational political comeback by Nigel Farage.
The survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies put the insurgent party led by Richard Tice on 11 per cent.
It marks the first time Reform UK has come third in polling by the company and will fuel Tory nerves over splitting the right-wing vote.
Mr Tice’s party is ahead of the Liberal Democrats on 10 per cent in the survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out on January 7.
Meanwhile, Labour is in the lead with 43 per cent and the Tories are second on 27 per cent.
Mr Farage, who led Reform UK in its previous incarnation as the Brexit Party, has refused to rule out a return to frontline politics following his stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
But he did not attend a major press conference held by the party last week.
At the press conference near Parliament, Mr Tice insisted he was “very confident” Mr Farage would play a role for Reform UK but did not say how.
He said the ex-Ukip leader was “working out what he wants to do what he feels able to do” after coming third on the ITV reality show.
Mr Tice said: “He’s got lots of other commitments and a good poker player keeps their cards close to their chest and plays them at the right time, and he’s the master of political timing.”
The businessman has vowed to stand candidates in every constituency in Great Britain at the next general election and ruled out any electoral pacts with the Conservatives.
He said: “You’ve all broken Britain, you’re all responsible, so there’s no special deals, we stand in every single seat in England, Scotland and Wales.”
It comes as Rishi Sunak has said his “working assumption” is a general election in the second half of this year.
