Reform UK has grown in support to within one percentage point of Labour according to a new poll for Sky News by YouGov which suggests Britain has entered a new era of three-way party politics.

Sir Keir Starmer looks set to spend the parliament locked in a fight with two right-wing parties after Labour support dropped sharply in the first YouGov poll since the general election.

The poll shows the Tories have now been pushed into third place – two months after Kemi Badenoch was elected leader.

The data collected over the weekend puts Labour on 26%, Reform UK on 25%, Conservatives on 22%, Liberal Democrats on 14% and Greens on 8%.

This is a huge switch from the general election, when Labour was on 35%, Conservatives on 24%, Reform UK on 15%, Lib Dem on 13% and Greens on 7%.

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This is the first of YouGov’s weekly voting intention polls for Sky News, shared with The Times.

It reflects a drop in satisfaction with the government, a rise in support for Reform UK, and shows how the Labour vote has split in all directions since the election.

Labour has retained 54% of their vote at the general election – 7% have gone to the Lib Dems, 6% to the Green Party, 5% to Reform UK, 4% to the Tories – while 23% of those polled did not say, did not know or would not vote.

Reform UK’s vote has grown since the general election at the expense of all other parties, with 16% of voters who backed the Tories at the ballot last year now saying they’d support Reform.

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The judgement on Sir Keir’s first six months in office is damning, however.

Some 10% say the government has been successful while 60% say unsuccessful.

Older voters have turned away from Labour. Just 14% of over 65s would now vote Labour, down from 22% around the time of the election.

However, there are signs the Tory party remains a toxic brand. Reform UK are the least unpopular party, with a net favourability rating of -32, Labour a touch worse on -34 and the Tories down on -45.

YouGov interviewed 2,279 voters in Great Britain on Sunday 12 January and Monday 13 January.

A woman in her 40s has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a man was found in Greater Manchester.

The man, in his 50s, was found dead at an address in Hope Hey Lane, Little Hulton, on Sunday morning after reports of concern for his welfare.

Following a post-mortem examination, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said it had launched a murder investigation as his injuries were consistent with an assault.

Officers subsequently arrested the woman and she remains in police custody for questioning.

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Detective Chief Inspector Neil Higginson, from the force’s Major Incident Team, said: “Sadly, following the discovery of a body at a property in Little Hulton, we have now launched a murder investigation, and we have a team of detectives working around the clock to understand the circumstances.

“We do not believe there to be a threat to the wider public, but you will likely see an increased presence of police in your area whilst we conduct further enquiries.

“If you have any information which may assist our investigation, or any dashcam, CCTV, or doorbell footage from the area in the last 24 hours, please get in touch with us.”

He added: “No matter how small the information may seem, it could be crucial to our investigation.”

The zebra that died in a zoo in Essex after an “incident” with a rhinoceros was killed after the larger animal unintentionally punctured its stomach.

Colchester Zoo had revealed over the weekend that a male zebra had died due to an “extremely rare” incident with a rhino, but it did not say how the animal’s death came about.

In an update, the zoo said a female rhino named Astrid had been sparring with her son Tayo in a mixed-species enclosure on Friday.

The rhino had “unfortunately” attempted to move the male zebra named Ziggy out of the way but in doing so “unintentionally punctured his stomach”, the zoo added.

The zebra died of his injuries a few minutes later.

Ziggy had been living “happily” with the other species in the enclosure, including the rhino, since November 2017, the zoo said.

It added in a statement: “In the light of these rare events, we review our care for the animals to minimise the risk of these incidents reoccurring.

“As a result, the animal care team will continue to closely monitor the animals’ behaviour in the coming weeks.

“These sorts of incidents are extremely rare and we are devastated by this loss, Ziggy was a much-loved animal who will be dearly missed.

“We would really like to thank our supporters for the well wishes at this difficult time and thank our fantastic animal care team who dealt with this very difficult situation extremely professionally.”

The zoo initially announced the zebra’s death on social media over the weekend, with some users claiming they witnessed what happened.

“I was there and I feel so bad for everyone,” one person wrote on Instagram.

“It was heart-breaking. The keepers did a great job handling it.”

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Another said: “We knew it had to be something serious, however every member of staff handled it so well, especially now looking back knowing the circumstances.”

The two animals were kept in the zoo’s “Kingdom of the Wild” enclosure, which is also home to animals and birds, including an African crowned crane, an ostrich, a greater kudu and a reticulated giraffe.

The habitat was completed in 2001 and is comprised of an indoor building and outdoor paddock, according to the zoo’s website.

Its rhinos are the near-threatened southern white species and since the first ones arrived in 1972, seven calves have been born at the popular tourist attraction.