Nigel Farage's odds of being the next Toryleader appear to have boosted despite his recent grillings over Reform's financial figures and the controversies surrounding its candidates.
New data from Betfair has revealed that punters are now backing Reform UK to win more then 20 per cent of the vote share on July 4, as well as placing its leader Farage as fourth most likely to become the next leader of the Conservative party.
It comes asTories have urged Rishi Sunakto take the gloves off against Nigel Farage as the battle to stave off the Reform threat intensifies.
Senior Conservatives warned that the current strategy of largely ignoring the Brexit champion and focusing fire on Labouris 'not working', insisting that Mr Sunak needs to get 'personal' to stop the party bleeding votes, as the insurgents gain ground in the polls.
Nigel Farage 's odds of being the next Tory leader appear to have boosted despite his recent grillings over Reform's financial figures and the controversies surrounding its candidates
New data from Betfair has revealed that punters are now backing Reform UK to win more then 20 per cent of the vote share on July 4, as well as placing its leader Farage as fourth most likely to become the next leader of the Conservative party
Tories are urging Rishi Sunak to take the gloves off against Nigel Farage (picture today) as the battle to stave off the Reform threat intensifies
Betfair spokesperson, Sam Rosbottom, told MailOnline: 'Despite recent polling showing Reform UK within a few percentage points of the Conservatives, punters are not yet fully convinced.
'Reform UK have been popular on the betting markets since Nigel Farage announced his return and odds have been slashed on them to win 7 or more seats, with chances improving from 18 per cent to 27 per cent since last Thursday. The odds of winning 7 seats or more are now 11/4.'
Earlier this week one poll by YouGov suggested that Reform UK had overtaken the Tories for the first time ever, placing them of 19 per cent and 18 per cent of the vote share respectively.
Prompting Nigel Farage to declare: 'We are now the opposition'.
Tonight he hosted an event in Clacton in Essex, the seat where he will be standing, revving up the crowd withpyrotechnic flamethrowers he waltzed into the Princes Theatre to the soundtrack of Eminem's 'Without Me'.
During his speech he announcedthat four Conservative councillors in Essex have defected and joined Reform UK, to the cheers of his loyal followers.
Earlier this week one poll by YouGov suggested that Reform UK had overtaken the Tories for the first time ever, placing them of 19 per cent and 18 per cent of the vote share respectively
Tonight he hosted an event in Clacton in Essex, the seat where he will be standing, revving up the crowd with pyrotechnic flamethrowers he waltzed into the Princes Theatre to the soundtrack of Eminem's 'Without Me'
During his speech he announced that four Conservative councillors in Essex have defected and joined Reform UK, to the cheers of his loyal followers
Mr Rosbottom continued: 'Punters on the Betfair Exchange are also backing Reform UK to get more than 20 per cent vote share in the election. The odds of Reform UK winning more than 20 per cent of the vote are currently 14/5.
'However, despite this week's Survation MRP poll results showing Reform UK winning seven seats in the upcoming election, punters don't agree. In the constituency markets for those seven seats, punters are only betting on one to turn to Reform UK - that being Clacton, where Nigel Farage is standing, where he has odds of 1/3 to win.
'Lee Anderson, the former Conservative MP, has the best odds of winning apart from Farage. Yet at 9/4 to win, he comes a distant second, with Labour's odds sitting at 8/13.
'Punters are also on the fence about Farage's own ambitions. He remains a hot contender to become the next Tory leader and is currently 10/1 to take over from Rishi Sunak.'
Mr Farage clashed brutally with Ed Balls today over whether the wealthy would benefit most from Reform's £90billion tax cutting splurge
This follows a brutal clash between Farage and Ed Balls today over whether the wealthy would benefit most from Reform's £90billion tax cutting splurge.
Mr Farage was attacked by the presenter - and Labour ex-Cabinet minister - during an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain.
Balls repeatedly demanded to know who would gain the most from raising the starting point for paying income tax to £20,000, and the inheritance tax threshold to £2million.
Mr Farage argued that the poor would be the biggest winners from the personal allowance hike 'in percentage terms'. But Balls hit back that the wealthiest would get far more in cash terms.
He also swiped that the IHT increase would only help people who had properties worth between £1million and £2million - as they could already avoid the levy up to that level.
Edward Oakenfull (pictured), in the Derbyshire Dales constituency – whose vote share could swing the seat in Labour's favour – posted on X that 'importing loads of sub-Saharan Africans plus Muslims that inter-breed' had created a 'gene pool decline'
Amelia Randall (pictured), standing in Herne Bay and Sandwich, is a self-proclaimed psychic fortune teller who the MoS discovered had sold tarot card readings and spells for up to £200 on the website OnlyFans, which predominantly hosts p*rnography
Another is Jacqui Harris who was suspended as a Tory councillor in 2019 over comments on Twitter in which she said allegations of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party were 'a false flag, probably masterminded by Mossad / CIA'
On top of this the party has faced intense scrutiny over its highly controversial candidates includinga convicted animal abuser and a man who said 'inter-breeding' immigrants create a 'gene pool decline'.
Edward Oakenfull, in the Derbyshire Dales constituency – whose vote share could swing the seat in Labour's favour – posted on X that 'importing loads of sub-Saharan Africans plus Muslims that inter-breed' had created a 'gene pool decline'. In another post he said that 'importing sub-Saharan Africans' would 'dilute the IQ of our country'.
Amelia Randall, standing in Herne Bay and Sandwich, is a self-proclaimed psychic fortune teller who the Mail on Sunday discovered had sold tarot card readings and spells for up to £200 on the website OnlyFans, which predominantly hosts p*rnography.
Another is Jacqui Harris, standing for the party in Kenilworth and Southam, who was suspended as a Tory councillor in 2019 over comments on Twitter in which she said allegations of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party were 'a false flag, probably masterminded by Mossad / CIA'.
