28 JANUARY 2025 | NEWS
The British Polling Council (BPC) has drawn a direct comparison between Reform UK and the National Rally in France, declaring it ‘far-right’.
This assertion went unchallenged by any other attendees at the event, including representatives from several significant polling organisations.
The distinction drawn by DeltaPoll was made at an event on 15 January, hosted at the London offices of Ipsos – another major pollster. The BPC represents 33 of the major polling organisations in the UK, with the overall event being held under its branding. The segment in question was entitled ‘The Rise of the Far-Right’.
Among others, these polling organisations include DeltaPoll, Ipsos, YouGov, Opinium, Survation and Sky Data. Find Out Now, another pollster represented by the BPC, has announced 26-percent support in voting intention for Reform UK in the past week, surpassing the Conservatives on 23 percent and the incumbent Labour Government on 22 percent.
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Voting intention for Reform UK according to Find Out Now
In slides seen by Wolves, who were in attendance, a presenter from DeltaPoll gave a lecture directly comparing the rise in support for Reform UK in this country to the rise in support for the National Rally in France.
The latter party is headed up by Marine Le Pen, the youngest daughter of the controversial French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. Both Le Pen and his daughter have made several attempts to be elected President of France, but have never succeeded.
While the National Rally – previously Le Front National – is traditionally considered ‘far-right’ by most political observers in France, Reform UK in this country is not necessarily deemed as such.
Other organisations viewed through this lens in the past, however, have included the British National Party (BNP) and the English Defence League (EDL), led in the past by Nick Griffin and Tommy Robinson, respectively.
Both are now considered defunct political entities, such that neither will be fielding candidates in either a local or national election. However, the same cannot be said for Reform UK.
It comes amid criticism published last night by the think tank Policy Exchange of a leaked Government report drawn up into where the Home Office should focus in relation to extremism issues (known internally as the ‘Sprint’). This was commissioned by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper last year, but she has allegedly rejected it. She is reportedly insisting that far-right extremism, alongside Islamism, should remain the Government’s primary targets.
In particular, the ‘Sprint’ report states that claims of ‘two-tier policing’ amount to a ‘right-wing extremist narrative’, while also recommending that moves introduced by the previous Conservative administration to curb the reporting of ‘non-crime hate incidents’ by the police should be reversed.
The event organised by the BPC was billed as part of its ‘Next Gen Pollsters’ programme, targeting ‘early career’ entrants to the polling industry, who will be its future. Several more experienced practitioners, however, were also in attendance and gave addresses. These included the BPC’s current President, Jane Green, who is a Professor of Political Science at Oxford University.
More broadly, the event covered recent elections over the past year in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland, with all these findings presented entirely impartially and in great detail.
But the presentation also noted how voters in support of ‘far-right’ parties were typically considered to have a lower level of education – with the highest support amongst those in their 50s – and, in addition, were more likely to be situated in more rural areas with a lower population density, along with a lower income.
Wolves makes no suggestion that this demographic data is inaccurate, though notes that a comparison was nonetheless drawn.
But a former campaigner for Reform UK told Wolves: “It is extremely concerning that the organisation representing the majority of people we rely on to inform us impartially of how the country is feeling has had little concern in branding an entire quarter of the electorate as extremists.”
Speaking to Wolves, the party’s Deputy Leader, Richard Tice, further said: “No surprise that the British Polling Council, another dinosaur of the Establishment, cannot cope with our success and wants to smear and label us. They still have some of their members not promoting for us. Absurd.”
A prospective parliamentary candidate for the party, Darren Selkus, also told Wolves: “Reform UK is not a far-right party, nor is it comparable to the National Rally in France. This comparison is both inaccurate and misleading.
“We stand for pragmatic solutions that work for everyone, not ideological extremes. Attempts to pigeon-hole us fail to recognise our genuine commitment to policies that transcend traditional political divides.”
Mayuran Senthilnathan, a former Reform UK prospective parliamentary candidate for Epsom & Ewell, called for greater clarity, stating: “The BPC need to be clear on their terms – what does ‘far-right’ actually mean? What precise policy from Reform qualifies it as ‘far-right’?
“The term has become a political tool used to demonise the party and indeed the majority of this country that dare to deviate from a hyper-liberal worldview – one which has damaged society so badly.”
The Reform UK Branch Chair for Barnet, Hamish Haddow, added: “This is utterly ridiculous. This is a further example of when people have gone so far-left, normal people are viewed as far-right in their eyes. Reform UK members are of all races and religions.”
Responding to a request for comment, the British Polling Council said: “The BPC cannot and does not hold any position because one of its members makes any public statement about any aspect of politics.”
It further added that this was something it would neither do, nor imply, and wished for this to be noted.
Additional reporting by Alex Cox.