Nigel Farage’s right-hand man has emerged as one of the public’s top picks for Chancellor after a bombshell poll put him ahead of rivals Rachel Reeves and Sir Mel Stride.
Zia Yusuf, a former Tory member who spectacularly joined Reform UK ahead of the 2024 General Election, received a net score of four per cent in a survey of 2,000 voters.
Merlin Strategy asked respondents whether they thought a series of political figures would do a good or bad job running the economy.
Mr Yusuf received the backing of 27 per cent, with just 23 per cent saying the 39-year-old would do a bad job.
However, around 50 per cent of respondents held a neutral view on Mr Yusuf.
Mr Yusuf, who resigned as Reform’s chairman last summer before being unveiled as Mr Farage’s policy chief just days later, was only beaten to the top spot by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Mr Brown, who served as Chancellor from 1997 to 2007, received a net score of six per cent.
Despite missing out on the top spot to the titan of New Labour, Mr Yusuf is already eyeing up No11 ahead of the next general election
Reform UK’s policy chief became a close confidante of Nigel Farage after being unveiled as a donor ahead of the 2024 General Election
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PA
With Mr Brown unlikely to mount a political comeback, Merlin Strategy’s poll showed Mr Yusuf seeing off all of his contemporaries, including a Reform UK MP.
Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice scored a net zero score, with 26 per cent of the public thinking the Boston & Skegness MP will do a good job and another 26 per cent fearing the opposite.
Both men fared better than the current Chancellor, with more than half of Britons saying Ms Reeves is doing a bad job running the economy.
The UK’s first female occupant of No11 saw her net score drop to minus 27 per cent, significantly lower than the positive three per cent total given to Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride.
Meanwhile, ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak managed to secure a net zero score with the backing of 34 per cent of voters.
The poll makes for tough reading for Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer
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GETTYDisgraced former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also managed to pull off a better net score than Ms Reeves, despite ending up with minus 13 per cent.
The Merlin Strategy poll also revealed Reform UK’s push to reassure voters about its fiscal prudence might be paying off.
The survey found 39 per cent trust Reform UK to run the economy, the same proportion as those who do not trust Mr Farage’s party.
In contrast, 49 per cent distrust Labour compared to 34 per cent who trust the party,
Sir Mel Stride also missed out to Zia Yusuf
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PAThe Tories also registered a net negative score on minus five per cent.
Sir Ed Davey’s Liberal Democrats matched Reform UK’s net zero score, albeit on a slightly lower proportion of 33 per cent.
Meanwhile, 37 per cent distrust the Green Party compared to 31 per cent who trust Mr Polanski’s party.
Labour has been looking to ramp up its attack against Reform’s economic record in recent months, with MPs contrasting Mr Farage’s agenda to former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Richard Tice received a net zero score in Merlin Strategy’s poll
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PAHowever, Mr Yusuf and Mr Farage have held several press conferences in a bid to woo the public.
The pair also delivered a scathing response to Ms Reeves’s £26billion tax Budget raid in November.
Responding to the polls findings, Merlin Strategy founder Scarlett Maguire told GB News: “In net terms, Reform figures Richard Tice and Zia Yusuf come out better than all Conservative figures tested.
“The Conservatives should make more effort. At the moment, Mel Stride is very unknown, and performs worse than both Tice and Yusuf on gross positive scores.”