We’re still in the dead zone between Reform UK’s conference and the TUC and Lib Dems’ next week, with Labour and the Tories to follow. The main government announcement of the week, the decision by Andy Burnham and Ed Miliband to impose sanctions on Israel, seems demonstrably more likely – to put it politely – to deliver victory in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election than it is to deliver a two-state solution to the Middle East wars.

It’s worth taking stock at the end of the week about where British politics stands now. I’m grateful to Luke Tryl of More in Common for insights into his latest polling and focus grouping (none of which, he assures me, was paid for by a secret donor).

Under Keir Starmer, the public’s trust in Labour to transform their lives plummeted

Under Keir Starmer, the public’s trust in Labour to transform their lives plummeted

The first thing to say is that Reform have not had much of a bounce out of their conference (perhaps because of the continuing furore around funding which overshadowed much of it). But the same is true of Labour. The Burnham bounce was real, but overall it seems to have peaked at around four or five percentage points, rather than the eight or nine which would have senior Labour types badgering the Prime Minister to call an early general election. What’s more, it seems to be ebbing already. The top of the table is now basically a three-way tie. More in Common’s latest polling puts Reform on 24 per cent, Labour on 23 per cent and the Tories on 22 per cent.

The other slightly concerning thing........

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