Boris Johnson is Tories' only hope of beating Nigel Farage, says shock new poll

A bombshell new poll shows that only under with voters than Reform UK. The survey conducted by pollsters found that the Tories had a three-point poll lead over Nigel Farage's insurgent party with Mr Johnson hypothetically in charge.

Under Kemi Badenoch, the incumbent Tory leader, the party trails Reform by eight points and Labour by one. Under her main rival for the leadership Robert Jenrick, the party would still trail Reform by seven and Labour by two. Although this may make grim reading for Mrs Badenoch, the prospect of her losing her position to the former PM appears lofty, given he's not even an MP.

Whether or not Mrs Badenoch is concerned about a return of Mr Johnson, she may well be looking over her shoulder as rumours begin to circulate about her future as Tory leader. Despite insisting that she is "confident" she will remain in charge of His Majesty's Opposition, some within the party fear their brand is going "backwards" as Reform gains momentum.

"We cannot continue as we are and she is just not up to the task," one Tory insider told The Independent.

However, writing for this website, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith insisted: "To those few Conservatives now briefing journalists that another leadership election is the answer I say, if after four leadership elections and utter disarray amongst MP's over the last five years, another leadership election is what they believe the public voted for, then they are deluded.

Referencing the party's grim local election performance which saw them lose 674 councillors - three less than Reform won - Sir Iain added: "This election result was frankly the second significant tremor after the first devastating political earthquake last year.

"It underscored the level of anger too many Conservative voters still had for our mistakes and failures. Not to mention the terrible behaviour of too many Conservative MPs at times appearing to care more for their careers than the lives of those they were sent to serve."