Nigel Farage

 hailed a “historic poll” which put Reform UK in the lead ahead of the local elections. The survey shows 26% of people intend to vote for the insurgent party this Thursday.

The Tories were second on 25%, while 18% said Labour, 17% opted for the Lib Dems, the Greens took 8%, and 6% said other. Meanwhile, the poll found Mr Farage is the most popular choice when it comes to who would be most effective in governing the country, after “none of the above”.

The Reform leader secured 23% of the vote share, with Sir Keir Starmer four points behind on 19%.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch was next with 8%, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was on 6%, and Green co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, were on 2%.

But 41% of respondents to the poll by More in Common for Channel 4 said “none of the above”.

Mr Farage said:“This historic poll shows that if you vote Reform on Thursday you will wake up with a Reform Councillor.

“I encourage all of our supporters to go out and cause a political earthquake on Thursday. Your local council needs Reform.”

Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, tipped Reform to be the “big winners” of the ballots but warned of “disillusionment” among voters.

He 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.”

Voters across parts of England will go to the polls on Thursday to elect councillors, regional mayors, and a new MP in the seat of Runcorn and Helsby.

Some 1,641 council seats are up for grabs on May 1, across 23 local authorities, while six mayoralities are also being contested.

These are the first major electoral tests for the parties since last July’s general election, which saw Labour win a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

More in Common polled 1,780 voters between April 17-24 in areas voting in local election this year.