𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats have displayed less courage “than a bloke with a bin on his head” by refusing to stand candidates to fight Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election, according to a former Tory party chairman.

Sir Jake Berry accused the traditional parties of power of being “frit” and said Mr Farage is “the only politician willing to break the mould and challenge the political establishment”.

His words come as pollsters Opinium warn that while Reform is still in first place its vote share is the lowest since January last year and Mr Farage looks “politically vulnerable” for the first time this parliament.

Former Northern Powerhouse minister Sir Jake – who threw his support behind Reform 12 months ago – said Mr Farage’s decision to trigger a by-election has “only reaffirmed my decision to join Reform”.

He said: “I left the old parties because they had lost the courage to challenge a failing political system. Nigel and Reform have shown they are prepared to take risks, trust the British people and fight for real change.”

Mr Farage had been facing a standards commissioner investigation into whether he should have declared a £5million from billionaire Christopher Harborne. This has been suspended while he fights the Clacton by-election which is being boycotted by the UK’s main parties.

Sir Jake said: “Nigel is still the only politician willing to break the mould and challenge the political establishment. The Establishment has Reform and Nigel firmly in its sights and will stop at nothing to bring them down.”

He added: “It takes real courage to do what Nigel has done. Rather than cling to his seat or hide behind political manoeuvring, he has put his faith in the people. By calling this by-election, Nigel has put the decision where it belongs: in the hands of his constituents and the British people. It also exposes just how frit the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems are. They’ve shown less courage than a bloke with a bin on his head by refusing to stand candidates.”

In a swipe at his old party, he said it was “hardly surprising” the Tories had not fielded a candidate given their poor performance in recent English by-elections.

Opinium’s second poll this month put Reform on 24% (-2), Labour on 19% (-1), the Conservatives on 18% (-1), the Greens on 16% (+2), and the Lib Dems on 12% (+1).

The pollster said Mr Farage’s net approval rating of net -27 was “by a decent margin his lowest of this Parliament”. He scored -32 on being trustworthy, -26 on looking like a PM in waiting and -24 on being trusted to take big decisions (-24).

Opinium reported that “53% now think Reform is influenced by wealthy donors or powerful organisations”, compared with 50% for the Conservatives and 49% for Labour.

Its head of policy and public affairs research, James Crouch, said: “For the first time this Parliament, Nigel Farage looks politically vulnerable. Reform’s vote share has fallen into the low 20s, his personal ratings have hit a new low, and the standards row appears to be taking a real toll. The question now is whether Labour or the Conservatives can capitalise.”