Nigel Farage blames 'staff incompetence' for rows of empty seats as Reform unveils its pre-Budget 'rescue plan'
Nigel Farage at a half-empty Reform UK event, as the latest Ipsos poll puts his party 12 points behind Labour and four points behind the Tories.Reform UK sits at 22.2% in the latest poll-of-polls, with the Ipsos survey placing Nigel Farage's party four points behind the second-placed Tories.
Guests at Lindley Hall in Westminster were moved to seats behind the podium so the room would look full on TV. Robert Jenrick set out Reform UK's 'Economic Rescue Plan' two days before Chancellor John Healey's first Budget. Nigel Farage admitted the party had endured a 'difficult summer' and must 'energise' its voters. A weekend Ipsos poll put Labour on 32%, the Tories on 24% and Reform on 20%.
A Conservative spokesperson called the half-empty room 'cringingly embarrassing' for Farage and Jenrick.
Farage was filmed pacing a balcony and not laughing at Jenrick's 'Cash in the Attic' joke.
Asked whether voters were falling out of love, Farage said: 'Markets go up, markets go down.'
