Sunak vows to fight for 'every single vote' as Farage declares Reform UK 'the real opposition'

Nigel Farage has taken 'delight' after Reform UK edged past the Conservatives in a singular poll - despite all other polls this week putting his party around four to five points behind, ITV News Political Correspondent Harry Horton reports

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the Conservative Party will "fight for every single vote" after a recent poll put Nigel Farage's Reform UK ahead of the Tories.

Speaking at the G7 conference in Italy, Mr Sunak said the July 4 vote "was the only one that mattered" as he was asked why Tory voters seemed to be turning to Reform UK.

A YouGov poll - commissioned and published by the Times newspaper - released on Thursday found Reform UK is now polling at 19%, to the Conservatives 18% in a "crossover" moment between the two parties. Other opinion polls released this week still have Reform UK behind the Tories.

Mr Farage was so buoyed by the result that he labelled himself the "leader of the opposition" on Friday, and called for a head-to-head with Labour's Sir Keir Starmer.

During a press conference at the G7 in Italy, Mr Sunak said: "I think we're only halfway through this campaign and the Conservative Party and me are going to fight for every single vote until the last day.

"And you know, what you saw this week was actually an important moment in the campaign because the only poll that matters is the one on July 4. "What you did see this week is the two leading parties put out their manifestos for the future of our country, and there's a very clear choice." "So I'm going to continue fighting very hard to make sure everyone understands the choice that's ahead of them."

Mr Farage admitted to ITV News that his Reform UK party isn’t quite prepared enough to capitalise on polling ahead of the Conservatives.

When asked if they're ready, he replied: "Not really no. Look, we're not as organised and developed as the Liberal Democrats they're very, very good at their ground game... We're honest with you, we admit we're not in that position.

“I’d have loved six months at this. We haven't got six months. We've got three more weeks," he said.

He added: "Are we fully in a position to capitalise from this? No. But are we doing our best as we go? Yes.

"If we can win that really big mass audience then I think we'll surprise even ourselves."

Nevertheless, Mr Farage said it "was a delight to see the poll" and shows "the momentum we're seeing on the streets is filtering through", as he demanded a spot on BBC Question Time’s four-way leaders’ special later this month.

“I think we can demand of right now that the BBC put us in to that debate,” he said. “I would also very much like to do a debate head-to-head with Keir Starmer and the reason’s very simple – we think this should be the immigration election.”

World leaders gathered in Italy for a G7 summit, and Rishi Sunak's campaign became a topic of conversation

Immigration also came up during Mr Sunak's G7 discussions, and journalists asking if those conversations had come too late in order to make a meaningful difference to migration levels in the UK while Reform UK continues see an uptick in support.

“I, together with (Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni), as you know have been talking a lot about this issue, leading on this issue is important to me and to her that the G7 discussed this and the discussion today was incredibly productive," Mr Sunak said.

He added: “Obviously, these things don’t happen overnight. But as I said when I got this job and made my first speech on illegal migration that where the UK lead others will follow, 18 months since then has shown that to be true.”

Back in the UK, Sir Keir said he was prepared to make enemies in order to grow the economy if Labour were to win on July 4 in an interview on Friday,

Speaking to BBC's Panorama, the Labour leader said: "We are going to have to be tough. We're going to have to change the way things are done."

The Labour leader said he would not take the country back into the EU, the single market or the customs union.

"We obviously had a referendum on this. I campaigned to remain. I voted to remain. But the vote was to leave. We've left, but we're not going back into membership of the EU," the Labour leader told the BBC's Nick Robinson.

Mr Farage also declared any votes cast for the Tories in the so-called Red Wall is "now a wasted vote," claiming his party is well ahead in such areas.

"They're still pumping out that same line that if you vote for Reform you will get Labour but the inflection point means that, actually, if you vote Conservative in the red wall, you will almost certainly get Labour," he said.

Mr Farage, when asked whether he would join the Tories, replied: “Boring, boring, boring. No, they’re done. The brand’s done.”

Labour said "the growth of Nigel Farage and the Reform Party during this general election is just the latest chapter in the Conservative Party’s psychodrama".

According to the poll, Labour still sits in the lead at 37% of voting intention, with the Liberal Democrats at 14%, the Greens at 7%, the SNP at 3%, Plaid Cymru at 1% and others at 2%.

It was conducted on a sample size of 2,211 adults in Britain between June 12 and 13.

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