Labour sees another 'Burnham bounce' poll boost to 32% ahead of crunch budget week

Andy Burnham’s Labour Party has had another huge poll boost - just ahead of his crunch first budget. Labour is now leading by eight points over the Conservatives - who are in second place for the first time this parliament, according to fresh research from Ipsos. The poll, seen by LBC, shows voting intention for Labour up to 32 per cent - up five points from last month’s research just before conference. The Tories are now in second on 24 per cent, which is up three points from the last time they polled.

Labour’s bounce comes at the expense of Reform UK, which is down three points, and the Green Party, which is down five points. It’s the largest Labour lead this Parliament found by Ipsos. Read more: 'Andy is getting it done': Trump praises Burnham for ‘opening up North Sea oil’ after talk with PM Read more: 'They don't know Labour like we do': Badenoch to take aim at 'fictional' spending cut promises before Healey's Budget The polling company said Labour is racking up votes on the left - which their data says has been happening for some time.

But Ipsos stressed that the government’s tough budget this week could throw them off course again. They also highlighted the volatility of voters - pointing to huge swings between the polling done six months ago. Thirty per cent of those polled say the government deserves to be re-elected if an election were to happen tomorrow (up two points), but 47 per cent disagree - the highest levels since Boris Johnson was Prime Minister.And Mr Burnham’s satisfaction ratings are up four points from September, hitting 35 per cent, but 45 per cent are still dissatisfied.

And 23 per cent are satisfied with how the government is running the country - another level not seen since Mr Johnson was in office. The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also appears to be experiencing a post-conference bounce, with her satisfaction now matching Mr Burnham’s on 35 per cent, which is up seven points on last month, and the highest satisfaction rating since becoming Leader of the Opposition. Both Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have seen their satisfaction ratings fall this month, to 22 per cent and 17 per cent retrospectively.

Reform UK have been subject to a series of damaging undercover exposes including this month from ITV exposure, and Mr Farage still faces a standards investigation over whether he broke rules by not declaring a £5billion gift from Christopher Harborne. The party leader denies wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the poll also reveals that public seem to be sceptical as to whether Reform is ready to govern, with just one in five (19 per cent) saying they are - a drop from 29 per cent last September.

But still just 24 per cent say the Tories are - though this is up four points from last month and eight from August. A Conservative spokesperson said of the latest polling: “It is now increasingly clear that the next election is a choice between Andy Burnham’s vision of bigger government and higher taxes, versus Kemi Badenoch’s pro-business, pro-enterprise, low tax vision for Britain. "A vote for any party other than the Conservatives risks condemning the country to a future under Labour of low growth and rising unemployment.”

It shows Labour leads on which party has the best policies on the economy (20 per cent, to 18 for the Tories), as well as the cost of living (Labour on 21 per cent, the Tories on 13 per cent). They also lead on healthcare (27 per cent Labour, to 11 per cent Tories). On defence, the Tories are just ahead on 19 per cent, with Labour on 18 per cent. But on asylum and immigration, Reform UK still leads Labour by fourteen points (with 28 per cent to 14 per cent), though their numbers are down from a high of 35 per cent last November.

Keiran Pedley, Director of Politics at Ipsos in the UK said: "Whilst the headline figures do show a striking change, they confirm a pattern we have been seeing in the underlying data for some time. "The Labour Party under Andy Burnham is resurgent, consolidating voters on the left behind them. On the right, the tectonic plates have been shifting recently and now this is reflected in the Conservatives – not Reform UK – being in a clear second place.

"However, we should be mindful against overreacting to one poll. The Government faces a challenging budget this coming week and the lesson of the last year is the British politics is volatile. The picture today is very different to six months ago and it could be different again in six months time too. "The poll of 1,109 British adults was done online between 15 and 22 October.