Read our Privacy noticeThe latest polling showing Nigel Farage’s plummeting approval ratings will no doubt make grim reading for the Reform UK leader, but the problems he and his party face go far deeper. But as Mr Farage goes into battle against a bin and 32 other fringe candidates in a by-election of his own making, there is a feeling that something is different this time. Meanwhile, the Tories under Kemi Badenoch, with a much higher approval rating than Mr Farage, have begun to gain support. The party is also being outflanked on the right by Restore Britain, led by his former Reform ally-turned-rival Rupert Lowe. But most people in Reform will admit that without Farage, Reform cannot win, so if he stops being a political asset then the challenge may be finished.