August is a month of long summer holidays for both schoolchildren and parliamentarians. However, it did not feel like politics took much of a break, with the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, keeping up a high profile with a string of announcements. Meanwhile, the leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, defeated Count Binface in the parliamentary by-election for Clacton.
So where are we in polling terms as we head back to school (or the House of Commons) into an autumn of party conferences, the budget and the unveiling of the Prime Minister’s ten-year plan for the UK? Is talk of an early general election justified by any changes seen in the polls?
Let’s delve into the August polling figures.
August 2026 UK General Election Polling Averages
The average (mean) vote shares from the most recent August poll by each of the eleven polling companies who published a UK general election poll conducted during August, is as follows:
* Compared with July’s average – each month a different combination of pollsters will publish polls, so this change is not strictly comparing like with like but gives a general sense of change.
August’s polling average was compiled using data from the following pollsters – BMG; Deltapoll; Find Out Now; Freshwater Strategy; Ipsos; JL Partners; More In Common; Opinium; Survation; Trajectory Partnership; YouGov.
What do these results mean?
In last month’s polling average, we saw Labour take the lead for the first time since March 2025. This month, we see Labour stretch their lead over Reform UK to two points (see details above). Indeed, Labour’s vote share (26.3%) is their highest since we started collating these monthly polling data in February 2025.
This month also sees the Conservatives vote share (20.1%) above 20%, for the first time since April 2025.
Given that both Labour and the Conservatives are at their highest point for over a year, it is unsurprising that the combined Labour and Conservative vote share (46.4%) is at its highest since March 2025. However, this figure is still will below the equivalent figure recorded at the 2024 general election (57.4%), which itself was a record low.
Indeed, we still have a political landscape where five UK-wide parties are in double digits in the polls. Though it is only fair to point out that this is only just the case this month, with the Liberal Democrats suffering a one-point fall for the second month in a row, with their support now standing at 10.0%, their lowest level of support since we started collating these polling averages.
The Greens, standing at 10.5% this month, have also seen their support drop and this is their lowest share since September 2025, when it stood at 9.3%, the last time their support was in single figures.
There has been much talk in recent months about ‘bloc politics’, with the idea that voters are more likely to move between parties in the same bloc, rather than between blocs. The blocs in question being a liberal-left bloc comprising of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens and a populist-right bloc comprising of Reform UK, the Conservatives and perhaps Restore Britain.
For an indepth look at why this matters, you can find an extended version of this article on our Substack
Do you wish a party on a quarter of the vote just won a quarter of the seats? Add your name to our call for a fair voting system
Add your name today