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%.

Politics latest: Chancellor will remain until next election, Downing Street says

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.

The Labour MP for Rotherham has called for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal, adding more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer.

Sarah Champion said child sexual abuse was “endemic” in Britain and “needs to be recognised as a national priority”.

She is the latest Labour politician to call for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE) after Dan Carden, the Labour MP for Liverpool Walton, became the first Labour MP to back calls for a national inquiry at the weekend.

Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, has also said he would not “stand against” a further review while Paul Waugh, the Labour MP for Rochdale, backed a further inquiry on the condition it had the support of victims and survivors.

Politics latest: Chancellor will remain until next election, Downing Street says

Ms Champion, who resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow frontbench in 2017 after she said Britain had a “problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls”, issued a five-point plan for tackling CSE on X – the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, who has increasingly taken an interest in the issue.

Her intervention will add more pressure on the prime minister, who has so far resisted the Conservatives’ calls for a national inquiry into “rape gangs”, arguing that it would delay implementing measures that would help victims.

Sir Keir, the former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, pointed to the fact that there had already been the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse by Professor Alexis Jay – but critics have argued that it was not comprehensive enough.

During Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Sir Keir said a new inquiry would delay implementing Prof Jay’s recommendations “until 2031”.

He accused the Conservatives of failing to implement any of the 2022 recommendations, adding: “They’ve been tweeting and talking. We’ve been acting.”

Last week the government announced it would implement one of Prof Jay’s recommendations by making it mandatory for professionals who work with children to report claims of sexual abuse – or face criminal sanctions.

MPs also last week voted against a Tory bid to launch a new national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal by 364 to 111, a majority of 253.

However, even if the Commons had supported the measure, it wouldn’t have actually forced the government to open the desired inquiry due to parliamentary procedure.

Instead, it would have killed the government’s legislation, the aim of which is to reform things such as the children’s care system and raise educational standards in schools.

Ms Champion, who previously indicated she would not support a further inquiry, proposed a national “Telford-style” inquiry that was “nationally resourced” and “victim-centred”.

She said local inquiries did not have the power to compel witnesses and would fail to satisfy the public’s concern of cover-ups.

Telford was one of a number of towns and cities where young girls were targeted and abused by men largely of Pakistani heritage more than a decade ago. Other areas that were affected include Oldham, Rochdale, Newcastle and Bristol.

Ms Champion, who has campaigned on the issue of CSE for years, wrote on X: “Child sexual abuse is endemic in the UK and needs to be recognised as a national priority,” she said.

“It is clear that the public distrusts governments and authorities when it comes to preventing and prosecuting child abuse, especially child sexual exploitation.”

She added: “Having worked widely with victims and survivors, and frontline professionals, I have long believed that we need to fully understand the nature of this crime and the failures in the response of public bodies if we are to truly protect children.

“It is clear that nothing less than a national inquiry into the failings of those in authority to both prevent, and be accountable for their failings, in relation to grooming gangs will restore the faith in our safeguarding systems.”

In her list of recommendations, Ms Champion also included a “national audit” to see if grooming gangs were still operating or cases had been missed.

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She also said there needed to be greater work to understand the motivations of grooming gang members.

Instead, she said triggers for such inquiries in local areas could be local councils or police referring themselves or an independent panel raising concerns.

Victim or survivor reports could also trigger an inquiry under the model, Ms Champion said.

Asked whether Ms Champion’s views on the matter carry some weight given her experience, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Absolutely. There will be a range of views.

“We’ve heard opposing views to that from others, including victims and survivors’ groups as well. So we will be guided and led by the victims and survivors on this.”

A Gaza deal is “on the brink”, President Joe Biden has said in his final foreign policy address.

The outgoing US leader said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians.

“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve
peace,” he said.

“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”

The US president also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.

“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” he said.

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Mr Biden was delivering his final foreign policy address before he leaves office next week.

Monday’s address will be the penultimate time he speaks to the country before the end of his presidency. He is due to give a farewell address on Wednesday.

US and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip – but a deal has not been reached yet, officials said.

A round of ceasefire talks will be held in Doha on Tuesday to finalise remaining details related to a ceasefire deal in Gaza – including over the release of up to 33 hostages – officials added.

Mr Biden went on to claim America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.

“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.

“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”