Belief Reform UK is sleazy has grown in the last two years, and is now seen as sleazier than the Labour government

Key takeaways

  • 73% of Britons describe Nigel Farage as sleazy, including 56% thinking he is *very* sleazy
  • This includes 40% of Reform UK voters seeing Farage as sleazy
  • Belief Reform UK as a party is sleazy has increased by 18 points over the last two years, with the public now more likely to consider them to be dodgy than Labour
  • 77% of the public feel British governments are generally sleazy
  • Keir Starmer is seen as sleazy by 51% of Britons, with 42% saying the same of Zack Polanski and 34-36% of Kemi Badenoch or Andy Burnham

The recent controversy over Nigel Farage’s finances, which has caused him to trigger a by-election in his Clacton constituency, is the latest accusation of ‘sleaze’ to hit British politics over the last few years, with previous scandals having included Boris Johnson’s partygate, Keir Starmer’s freebie-gate, and Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of SNP funds.

A new YouGov poll examines how much damage these scandals have done to the reputations of the main political parties and leaders, and whether this has shifted over recent years.

Nearly three quarters of Britons (73%) today describe Nigel Farage as at least fairly sleazy, putting him on a par with the reputation of both the 2019-24 Conservative government and British governments in general, which 75-77% describe as sleazy.

Additionally, 69% of the public think Reform UK as a whole is at least somewhat sleazy, meaning that both Farage and his party are more likely to be seen as dodgy than either the current Labour government or the Conservatives since the last election, both viewed as such by around six in ten Britons (57-61%).

Likewise, there’s a clear gulf between perceptions of Farage and the other party leaders, with a lower 51% of Britons seeing Keir Starmer as at least fairly sleazy, alongside 42% viewing Green leader Zack Polanski as similarly disreputable, just 34-36% feeling the same of Kemi Badenoch or Andy Burnham, and only 26% placing the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey in this category.

Where Farage and Reform fare worst, though, is looking at just the proportions opting for the description “very sleazy”. A majority of Britons (52-56%) feel this label applies to them, compared to 44% putting the previous Conservative government in this category, and no more than 31% believing this is true of any other party or party leader.

Reform being viewed as sleazy is not necessarily a new thing, but the perception has grown. In October 2024, at the height of the freebie-gate scandal, half of Britons saw the party as sleazy, a clear 18 points lower than today.

However, a seedy shift is not limited to Reform, with belief that the Green party is sleazy having roughly doubled from 18% to 35% over the last 21 months, while such a view of the Lib Dems is also up seven points.

By comparison, evaluations of the current Labour government, its Conservative predecessor, or British governments in general remain largely unchanged over this period.

Who do voters see as sleazy?

Perhaps most concerningly of all for Nigel Farage, a full 40% of those who voted Reform at the last election today consider him to be sleazy. For Andy Burnham, Ed Davey, Kemi Badenoch and Zack Polanski, the comparative figure is 13-19% of their respective party’s 2024 voters, though a higher 32% of Labour voters consider Keir Starmer to be sleazy.

Additionally, 31% of Reform voters see the party they backed in 2024 as sleazy, a similar number to the 29% of Tory voters who say the same of their party's record since the last election (although 55% brand the Conservative governments from 2019 to 2024 as sleazy). Four in ten Labour voters (42%) likewise deem the Labour government since 2024 to have been disreputable.

Reform voters are particularly likely to feel British governments in general are sleazy (91%), including nearly half (46%) believing they are very sleazy. This compares to 73-82% of voters for the other major parties believing the typical British government is at least fairly sleazy, and just 14-24% labelling them as very sleazy.

See the full results here

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Photo: Getty

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