Half of British voters believe Nigel Farage is personally “responsible” for the riots that broke out across Britain earlier this month.
A poll conducted by Savanta and seen by HuffPost UK shows that 51 percent of the public blame the leader of Reform UK for the unrest, which has led to hundreds of arrests and harsh prison sentences for some of those involved.
Farage finished just behind former English Defence League chairman Tommy Robinson, who was blamed by 54 percent of respondents.
Next was owner and billionaire Elon Musk with 44%, while 40% blamed Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Farage faced a barrage of criticism for posting a video hours after the murder of three young girls attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
In it, he claimed that the police were “withholding the truth from us” and repeated the false information that the suspected murderer was being watched by the security service.
A vigil for the victims, all of whom were under the age of ten, later escalated into violence and sparked right-wing extremist riots across the country.
Farage has since admitted that he repeated false claims made on social media by Andrew Tate, among others.
He defended his actions by saying that he was merely trying to find out “the truth.”
The poll of 2,237 people, conducted between August 9 and 11, also found that 64 percent of respondents believe the police handled the riots well – despite Farage’s claims of “two-tier policing”.
Just over half (52 percent) said Starmer had weathered the crisis well, while 38 percent said he had weathered the crisis poorly.
The poll also found that 82 percent of British adults believe that the majority of blame for the riots lies with those who took part, with 75 percent blaming far-right organizations and 73 percent social media companies.
Almost two-thirds of the public (64%) said that British immigration policy was the cause of the unrest, while 59% blamed the Southport murders.
To prevent further unrest, 37 percent of British adults believe that “violent protesters must be quickly charged and sentenced to prison to deter others,” while 30 percent believe that immigration issues must be addressed.
Only one in ten respondents believes that combating social inequality will prevent a renewed outbreak of unrest.
Chris Hopkins, head of political research at Savanta, said: “Contrary to what is being discussed online, the majority of respondents believe that Keir Starmer has handled the situation well, not that he has not.
“Our research probably paints a bleaker picture for Nigel Farage. He is seen as only ‘responsible’ for the violent protests after former EDL leader Tommy Robinson.
“The public believes that swift conviction of violent protesters is the best way to prevent repeat offenses – and the government is taking that approach. Next, they believe, public concerns about immigration must be addressed.”
Reform UK has been approached for comment.
