THE rise in support for Reform UK in recent opinion polls is “very troubling” for Conservatives, the MP Miriam Cates has said.
Asked about a new YouGov poll showing the Tories down to 19%, she told GB News: “Yes, of course I am worried. They are very troubling figures for Conservatives. In the first past the post system in a General Election, it doesn't quite work out like that.
“The Conservative vote will be spread differently to the Reform vote and, whilst the Reform vote may be enough to stop Conservatives winning particular seats, probably quite a lot of seats, the effect of it will be to allow in Labour MPs.
“That's what the Reform vote will do. But yes, of course it is worrying. And I think it shows very much that we need to be leaning into these issues of immigration that people are so concerned about, economic security, those kinds of issues that did win us the election in 2019 that Boris Johnson very much stood for.
“The only route back to victory for the Conservatives is to lean into those issues that voters so very much care about.”
In a discussion with Christopher Hope and Martin Daubney, she continued: “A lot of the polling for Reform stems from a frustration with the Conservatives, rather than necessarily a desire to see a Reform government, because I think we both we understand that under our current system, that's just not going to happen.”
She added: “The polling is very worrying for us. We are polling as low as we ever have. But there are also an extraordinary number of people who are saying they don't know and haven't decided, and for this point in the electoral cycle that is quite surprising.
“It means we've got an enormous job to do to win those voters back but what is significant is we're not seeing huge numbers of switches from Conservative to Labour, which shows I think that there's no real passion for a Keir Starmer government.
“While people might be upset with us, there's no real passion for Labour…we're not seeing such a rush back to Labour but nevertheless, it does show what an extraordinary job we have got to do to win back people's confidence, to win back that lent vote, if you like, again, and obviously Reform are very much picking up the votes of people who don't think we've done that yet.”
