Nigel Farage has overtaken Sir Keir Starmer on who would be a better prime minister, new polling shows. The Reform leader is seen as a better candidate for No10 by 33% of respondents, compared to 30% who opted for Sir Keir.

It is the first time Ipsos has recorded Mr Farage as being ahead of the Prime Minister amid speculation he could face a leadership challenge. Mr Farage is up three points from last month, while Sir Keir’s rating was unchanged and 29% said they did not know in the poll of 1,141 people carried out from October 10-13.

The pollster’s director of politics, Keiran Pedley, told The Telegraph: “Nigel Farage’s slight lead over Keir Starmer in a head to head of who would make a better Prime Minister signifies an intriguing shift in the political landscape.

“Our data also shows a growing public confidence in Reform’s proposed plans for the economy and immigration, which Britons consistently rank at the top of the issues that they see as most important to them.”

The findings are a fresh blow to the Prime Minister after separate YouGov research found that Labour has hit its lowest voting intention score ever recorded by the polling company.

The survey of 2,389 people, carried out earlier this week, put Sir Keir’s party on 17%, tied with the Tories.

Reform is 10 points in the lead with 27%, while the Greens are on 16% and the Lib Dems are on 15%.

Mr Farage’s insurgent party, which has five MPs, is consistently leading national opinion polls.