Twenty-five per cent. That is where Reform UK sits in the latest Ipsos Political Monitor, conducted between 9 and 15 April. After eighteen months of sustained attacks from Labour, the BBC, the Guardian, the Conservative remnant and a procession of ex-civil servants who never met a populist they liked, Reform is still standing. Still at a quarter of the national vote. Still ahead of the Conservatives. Still scaring the political establishment witless.

The British public has decided it wants something different. And no amount of media briefing is going to talk them out of it.

What the Numbers Mean

Yes, 25% is down from the September 2025 peak of 34%. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. But the dip needs context. Governing parties can lose support and recover. Opposition parties on 25% in April of an election cycle have, historically, been on track to win seats and influence. The Liberal Democrats never came close to this support level in their post-coalition decade. The Greens never come close. Reform UK at 25%, eighteen months into a Labour government, is a serious political force, not a flash in the pan.

Compare this to where the Conservatives sit. The party that ran the country for fourteen years is, on most polls, level or behind us. Kemi Badenoch's leadership has not stopped the bleed of voters who simply do not trust the Conservatives to do anything they say they will. Those voters are coming to Reform. They are not going back. Reform is the new home of conservative-minded Britain, and the polls confirm it.

Why It Has Held

The smear campaign has been spectacular. A 200-page Labour Party "dossier" in April. Dozens of newspaper opinion columns calling Reform a threat to democracy. Endless sniping about candidate vetting. Ministers using parliamentary speeches to call us extremists. The Establishment threw the kitchen sink at us, and the kitchen sink, and the polling barely moved.

Why? Because the British public can read. They can see Labour failing on immigration, on tax, on the NHS, on energy. They can see the Conservatives offering no alternative. They can see Reform UK offering policies — lower taxes, controlled immigration, common-sense energy, real free speech — that the other two parties refuse to even discuss. When the political weather shifts, the polls follow.

The Council Wins Tell the Real Story

National polling is one thing. Real elections are another. In May 2025 Reform won hundreds of council seats across England, including in Lancashire — where I now sit as a County Councillor for Preston East. We took control of councils. We came second in places we'd never previously contested. We turned safe Tory wards Reform overnight. You cannot do that on hot air. You do it by talking to real people about real problems.

The next set of locals will tell us whether the momentum holds. I am confident it will. Across Lancashire, the people who voted Reform last May are not changing their minds. The people who didn't vote Reform last May are quietly opening the door to it now. Labour's polling collapse — they are now barely above 25% themselves on some measures — has handed us the floor.

The Establishment Is Terrified

You can tell a lot about a political force by who attacks it. When Trades Union Congress general secretaries, the Office for Budget Responsibility, half the Lords, and the editorial board of every legacy newspaper unite in opposition, you know you have the establishment rattled. Reform UK has them rattled because we represent a fundamental break with how this country has been governed since 1997. We do not believe Britain is broken because of the British. We believe it is broken because of those who rule it.

The Work Continues

Holding 25% is not enough. Winning a general election will require building further, in places we are not yet strong, with voters who do not yet know us. There is no room for complacency. But after eighteen months of relentless attack, after the worst the British political class can throw at us, Reform UK is still standing. Still ahead of the Tories. Still the leading voice for the millions who feel ignored by Westminster. The British public have made their choice. The establishment just hasn't caught up yet.