Areas receiving levelling-up funds show smaller Reform UK vote share, study finds

Analysis suggests prioritising projects that give quick local results may hold back support for populism

Areas that received money from the last government's much-criticised levelling up fund tended to have lower votes for Reform UK in the general election, a study has found, indicating that projects delivering quick results may hold back support for populism.

The study by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) thinktank, billed as the first to examine a mass of data factors linked to support for Reform at the level of individual seats, identified a series of factors likely to make voters more likely to back Nigel Farage's party.