Reform chairman Richard Tice demands his party get a head-to-head TV clash with Keir Starmer claiming his party is now more important than the Tories - despite only beating them in single poll
Reform chairman Richard Tice has demanded the BBC hosts a debate between Nigel Farage and Sir Keir Starmer after a single poll put the new party ahead of the Conservatives.
A YouGov poll put Reform at 19 per cent with the Tories trailing on 18 per cent in a survey of 2,221 adults conducted on Wednesday and Thursday.
In a letter to the national broadcaster Richard Tice demanded a head-to-head between the opposing leaders and insisted that Farage also be added to the BBC's four-way leaders' debate panel, which Fiona Bruce will host in York next Thursday.
He cited a recent YouGov poll as evidence to the public demand for his party. It stated that of 2,211 adults in Britain surveyed on Wednesday and Thursday, Reform UK would win 19 per cent, putting them ahead of the Conservatives on 18 per cent.
A BBC spokesman did not rule out the possibility of Mr Farage being added to the roster, saying they would follow 'continued trends in the polls'.
The extraordinary demand comes as Mr Farage admitted that his party might not secure a single seat in next month's General Election.
Reform Chairman Richard Tice has suggested the BBC should invite party leader Nigel Farage, pictured, to debate Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak on television
In a letter to the national broadcaster Richard Tice demanded a head-to-head between the opposing leaders and insisted that Farage also be added to the BBC's four-way leaders' debate panel, which Fiona Bruce will host in York next Thursday
Currently the two-hour Question Time Leaders' Special is set to feature the leaders of the four largest political parties, based on the number of House of Commons seats before a General Election was called, the Conservatives had a majority, ahead of Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats.
In his statement to Ric Bailey, the corporation's chief adviser on politics, he argued that it was of 'democratic interest' to be included and will 'infuriate millions of people' if they are refused.
Mr Tice wrote: 'As you know, Reform UK is now polling ahead of the Tories with You Gov, and consistently ahead of the Lib Dems in all polls.
'The trend for us is up whilst for the Tories it is down. It is highly likely this trend will continue and we expect more polls to confirm the same in due course.
'The idea that we should not be in the BBC 4 way leaders debates is completely untenable and cannot be allowed to stand. Frankly, little will do more to infuriate millions of people against the BBC for blatant bias.
'In addition, given these polls and that it is likely that Reform UK will secure more votes cast than the Tories across the UK, our leader should be able to face the Labour leader in a 2 way debate.
'Clearly this is in the democratic interest of this election as our two parties have very different policies.
'I look forward to hearing from you urgently with confirmation this will now happen.'
Reform UK had just one MP with Lee Anderson, in the Nottinghamshire constituency of Ashfield.
Mr Farage also wrote on social media site X, formerly Twitter, that he wanted to take part in a head-to-head debate on Wednesday June 26, when Mishal Husain will host Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in Nottingham.
The Reform UK leader wrote: “As we are now ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, I demand that Reform UK is a part of this debate.
“If the BBC want a fight with me on this, they can have one.”
YouGov’s poll for The Times, of 2,211 adults in Britain on Wednesday and Thursday, put Reform UK at 19% - ahead of the Conservatives at 18% and the Liberal Democrats at 14%.
Labour led with 37%.
In his statement to Ric Bailey, the corporation's chief adviser on politics, he argued that it was of 'democratic interest' to be included and will 'infuriate millions of people' if they are refused
This comes after Farage, while at a press conference in London on Friday, said his party had crossed an 'inflection point' and added: 'The inflection point means that, actually, if you vote Conservative in the red wall, you will almost certainly get Labour.
'A Conservative vote in the red wall is now a wasted vote. We are the challengers to Labour. We are now the real opposition.
'And this needs to be reflected, and it's beginning to be reflected by the polling industry but it needs to be reflected by the broadcasters as well, because Ofcom and the guidance they've given to broadcasters say that really, the most important of all the factors is the performance in the last two general elections.
'We haven't stood in the last two general elections. It's as if everything in our politics is designed to stop new boys and girls coming in and to keep everything the same.'
In 2019 the then called Brexit Party stood down in hundreds of Tory target seats to help Boris Johnson defeat Jeremy Corbyn.
A BBC spokesperson said: 'Nigel Farage and Reform UK have received coverage across BBC outlets, including Mr Farage appearing on Question Time, being interviewed on the Today programme, taking part in the BBC seven-way debate, being interviewed on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, on BBC Breakfast, and participating in the Nicky Campbell phone-in on BBC 5 Live and BBC News channel.
'He is invited to participate in the leaders' interviews with Nick Robinson.
'The BBC's editorial guidelines and Ofcom's guidance state that we should give due weight to past and current electoral support when determining coverage for political parties.
'The Ofcom guidance gives 'greater weight on the actual performance of a political party in elections over opinion poll data' taking into account the 'greater uncertainty associated with support in opinion polls'.
'Our guidelines set out the broad levels of coverage each of the parties should expect to receive but we follow the story of the campaign, including continued trends in the polls.'
