Labour hits 27% in new poll, highest rating in 21 months
A new voting intention poll puts Labour on 27%, up three points and its highest rating in 21 months, with a five-point lead over Reform.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A new voting intention poll has given Labour its highest rating in 21 months. The party is up three percentage points to 27%, according to the latest figures.
The poll put Reform down three points to 22%, the Conservatives up one point to 20%, and the Liberal Democrats and the Greens level on 11% each. That gives Labour a five-point lead over Reform, its biggest lead since January 2025.
The result marks a shift from Labour's position under Keir Starmer, when the party fell below Reform and that deficit looked stubborn. Since Andy Burnham became Labour leader, and later Prime Minister in July, Labour has regained its lead. The latest figures suggest Burnham's honeymoon period is continuing.
At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Burnham delivered a speech that cut through with several policy announcements. These included moving closer to the European Union, leaving the door open to single market or customs union membership, reforming the electoral system, creating a national care service, and adjusting the Triple Lock to fund it.
The polling, described as YouGov research, also found that 52% of people would vote to rejoin the EU if a second referendum were held today. That may suggest some of Burnham's positions are appealing to voters.
The Liberal Democrats and the Greens did not move in the poll. That could suggest Labour's shift to the left is attracting voters who might otherwise have backed those parties.
The Conservatives may be pleased. Last year the gap between them and Reform was 10 points. Now it is in single digits, just a couple of points, as the party holds its conference in Birmingham.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A poll put Reform down three points to 22%, the Conservatives up one point to 20%, and the Liberal Democrats and Greens level on 11%. | |
| Labour has its highest poll rating in 21 months. | |
| YouGov polling suggested 52% would vote to rejoin the EU in a second referendum. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News led its politics segment on the poll as evidence that Labour's fortunes are improving under Andy Burnham. It framed the result as Labour's best in 21 months and linked it to Burnham's conference policy announcements, while also highlighting Conservative gains and stagnation for the Lib Dems and Greens. The poll segment sat inside a broader morning bulletin that also covered Jeffrey Archer and Yemen.
- “a new voting intention poll has given Labour its highest rating since January last year. That's 21 months ago.”
- “Labour up 3 percentage points to 27%, Reform down 3 to 22%, the Conservatives up 1 to 20, and the Lib Dems and the Greens neck and neck on 11.”
- “this is Labour's biggest poll lead since, as you were saying, January 2025. A 5-point lead over Reform.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.