Belief Reform UK is sleazy has grown in the last two years, and is now seen as sleazier than the Labour government
Key takeaways
73% of Britons describe Nigel Farage as sleazy, including 56% thinking he is *very* sleazy
This includes 40% of Reform UK voters seeing Farage as sleazy
Belief Reform UK as a party is sleazy has increased by 18 points over the last two years, with the public now more likely to consider them to be dodgy than Labour
77% of the public feel British governments are generally sleazy
Keir Starmer is seen as sleazy by 51% of Britons, with 42% saying the same of Zack Polanski and 34-36% of Kemi Badenoch or Andy Burnham
People walking over Westminster Bridge with the Elizabeth Tower, or Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament in the background in Westminster, central London, June 22, 2026
IT is time for a clampdown on lobbying abuses, the government’s ethics adviser said today.
In a report widely welcomed by campaigners, the Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) recommended a tenfold increase in amount rule-breaking lobbyists are fined, to £75,000.
The EIC also slammed the system for ensuring transparency by lobbyists as “wholly inadequate.”
The government should urgently create a register of all lobbying activity to replace the current regime, which does not require in-house lobbyists employed by tech giants, arms monopolies and foreign companies to detail their interactions with ministers, the commission said.
Unlock Democracy chief executive Tom Brake backed the report, saying: “The EIC is right — Britain’s lobbying rules are not fit for purpose.
“A single, searchable database bringing together government and lobbyists’ disclosures would be a big win for transparency.
“Instead of today’s fragmented picture, the public would have a clear view of who is lobbying government, on whose behalf and about what.”
Nigel Farage may have landed himself in a humiliating contest with Count Binface
NIGEL FARAGE’S desperate by-election gambit has descended into farce as his Reform party was rocked by fresh funding revelations.
It emerged that the Reform boss’s £5 million donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, and other cash for the party, was referred to the National Crime Agency as suspicious.
Labour Party chair Anna Turley called the news “astonishing and deeply serious” and called on Mr Farage to “come clean and co-operate” with the agency.
The fresh scandal about Mr Farage’s funding, first reported by the Guardian, came as he faced the prospect of a hot summer campaigning to keep his Clacton seat in the face of a challenge by Count Binface.
The perennial comedy candidate was the only confirmed opponent to Mr Farage in the by-election he provoked to regain control of a media narrative over sleaze which was gradually paralysing his political operation.
However, the Tories, Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Restore parties all called Reform’s bluff by confirming that they would not stand in the by-election, describing it as a farce.
The local Green party was the last to declare its abstention, issuing a statement saying “we have no intention of helping to legitimise a by-election that appears designed not to serve local residents but to serve Nigel Farage’s personal political ambitions.
“This contest is not about the people of Clacton. It is about one politician placing himself at the centre of a media spectacle and expecting local residents to play supporting roles in a drama of his own making.”
Reform 2025 Ltd’s Director Nigel Farage discusses his five million pounds gift from Crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. He tells nosey parkers to mind their own business and suggests that you don’t entertain the notion that even some of it could be dirty money from international money laundering. FM, I’ve done it again
Reports that McSweeney’s successor Josh Simons will head Burnham’s No 10 policy unit suggest this is part of a wider ruling-class project to reassemble as much of the Mandelson-McSweeney project as possible and ensure it remains the dominating influence in government.
Simons headed Labour Together when it hired private investigators to smear and intimidate journalists who had helped expose its financial misconduct, notably Holden but including the Morning Star’s Andrew Murray.
It would be the height of folly for Burnham to give Simons a political role, whether or not this was the gentlemen’s agreement that saw Simons resign his Makerfield seat to let Burnham run.
It would reinforce the “jobs for the boys” impression of government by clique and confirm that the system looks after its own, no matter how outrageous their behaviour.
It would show that the disgraced think tank is still in charge …
dizzy: Looks like we have no change apart from the front man. I am disappointed in those that abandoned their stated intentions and contributed to achieving this … It wasn’t without warning, was it?
A view of the Chamber of the House of Lords ahead of the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London, May 13, 2026
PEERS have seen their shares in oil and gas firms soar by tens of thousands since the start of the US war on Iran as the energy price cap jumped today, the Morning Star can reveal.
At least seven lords and one baroness have seen their stock holdings in companies such as Equinor, Chevron and Shell, increase since the war-driven energy shock.
New research from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) shared exclusively with the Star revealed the estimated gains made by peers as households “dread” the next energy bill.
EFPC co-ordinator Simon Francis slammed the lords who “may be leaping at the prospect of increased dividends and share prices” on the backs of “suffering households.”
Among the lords who saw the highest rise in their holdings was former Treasury and Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew of Oulton.
A Tory peer and board member on GB News’ holding company, Lord Agnew saw his shares in Britain’s largest gas supplier Equinor grow by around £28,000 since the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Iran which kicked off the war.
Former Tory Treasury minister Lord Sassoon saw shares in Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum and Shell grow by a combined value of just under £28,000.
EFPC highlighted other sitting peers holding shares in Shell, including former Hong Kong governor Lord Patten, former Tory home secretary and chancellor Lord Clarke and crossbencher Lord Rees.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.Greenpeace activists display a billboard during a protest outside Shell headquarters on July 27, 2023 in London. (Photo: Handout/Chris J. Ratcliffe for Greenpeace via Getty Images)Experienced climbers scale a rock face near the historic Dumbarton castle in Glasgow, releasing a banner that reads “Climate on a Cliff Edge.” One activist, dressed as a globe, symbolically looms near the edge, while another plays the bagpipes on the shores below. | Photo courtesy of Extinction Rebellion and Mark Richards
People walking over Westminster Bridge with the Elizabeth Tower, or Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament in the background in Westminster, central London, June 22, 2026
