Nigel Farage is now the most trusted political figure in the UK when it comes to immigration, according to a new Ipsos poll. His party, Reform UK, has also gained the highest levels of public confidence on immigration-related policy, outpacing all other major political parties, including the governing Labour Party under Sir Keir Starmer.

The poll, conducted by Ipsos between May 16 and 20 following the release of the government’s immigration white paper, surveyed 1,084 adults aged 18–75 across Great Britain. It shows that 28 percent of respondents trust Farage the most on immigration policy—well ahead of Prime Minister Starmer at 15 percent. Only 6 percent chose Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition. A notable 26 percent said they do not trust any of the major party leaders on the issue. Among Conservative voters from 2024, trust was nearly evenly split between Farage (28 percent) and Badenoch (29 percent).

Reform UK also outperforms other parties on several immigration measures. It leads public trust on having the right immigration policies (37 percent), on handling illegal Channel crossings (39 percent), and on making illegal entry into the UK more difficult (42 percent). In contrast, Labour and the Liberal Democrats each garner trust from about one in four respondents, while the Conservative Party ranks lowest across all categories.

Concerns about the overall number of people entering the UK remain high. Two-thirds (67 percent) of British adults believe immigration is too high, a figure unchanged from the previous month. 5 percent say the level of immigration is too low and about 18 percent believe that current levels are correct.

Gideon Skinner, who is the Senior Director of UK Politics at Ipsos, commented on the findings: “Our polling demonstrates that the public continue to have little trust in the main political parties and their leaders on the issue of immigration, and if anything, it is eroding further over the last year.

"Instead, Reform UK is emerging as clearly the most trusted, albeit among a fragmented landscape – indeed, Conservative 2024 voters have as much trust in Nigel Farage on the issue as their own party leader Kemi Badenoch.

"The majority of the public – including supporters of all parties – continues to think that the overall number of people entering the country is too high, although we know that there is nuance underneath this, with different types of immigration (and asylum) viewed differently."

For those who said current the immigration rate is excessive, they cited reasons for their opposition including that the UK’s welfare benefits (60 percent), the activities of human trafficking and smuggling networks (50 percent), and ongoing international conflicts (34 percent).

"Nevertheless, public concern over their perceived drivers of too high immigration – especially Britain’s welfare benefits and human trafficking/smuggling gangs – will need to be considered by the government as they navigate the response to the immigration white paper," Skinner added.

"It also remains to be seen whether or not the recent news of a fall in net migration – announced after this fieldwork – will have an impact on the high levels of public concern, or whether long-standing dissatisfaction with governments from both sides will continue.”