How grim things are suddenly looking for Nigel Farage and Reform UK. It isn’t that their poll ratings are crashing – in spite of a minor decline in the polls in recent weeks, the party still holds a commanding lead. For the moment, the outcome of the next election continues to look like being either a Reform UK government of a Reform UK-led coalition with the Tories.

At the current rate there is a serious chance that by 2029 the Conservatives could end up looking fresher than Reform UK

Conservative MPs are certainly convinced that their party is dying, which is why so many are defecting. Robert Jenrick – assuming he does join Reform – can no longer technically be a defector because Kemi Badenoch has removed the Conservative party whip, but he would be by far the biggest beast to flee the Tory forest yet. Surely, his leaving will trigger an avalanche of more Tory MPs into........

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