Sir Keir Starmer has said he believes Labour can “pull this round” as a poll suggested Nigel Farage could be on course for a landslide win in the next general election.
The Prime Minister hopes to use his party conference to unveil a series of eye-catching policies, including promises for the construction of new towns, with the aim of turning the tide for both Labour and his premiership.
But the scale of the challenge facing Sir Keir, who was swept to power with a massive majority just last year, was underlined by a poll indicating Mr Farage could be on course for Downing Street.
Labour’s conference in Liverpool begins on Sunday and Sir Keir said the battle against Reform UK and its “toxic” politics were “the fight of our times”.
The Prime Minister told The Sunday Times: “I think we can pull this round.”
But in a plea for party unity, after speculation Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could seek a return to Westminster to oust him, Sir Keir said: “It is the fight of our times and we’ve all got to be in it together.
“We don’t have time for introspection, we don’t have time for navel-gazing.
“You’ll always get a bit of that at a Labour Party conference, but that is not going to solve the problems that face this country.”
A poll of nearly 20,000 people and modelling by More In Common suggested Mr Farage could enter No 10 with a majority of 96, with Labour reduced to just 90 seats and the Tories pushed into fourth place at Westminster behind the Liberal Democrats.
Multilevel regression and post-stratification (MPR) techniques were used to estimate individual constituency results, suggesting Reform would take 373 seats while Labour would be left clinging on predominantly in urban centres such as London, and university towns.
The MRP model was based on a representative sample of 19,520 people between August 8 and September 15.
Separate polling by More In Common on Labour’s record in Government suggests Sir Keir’s decision to focus his attack on Mr Farage was not cutting through with voters.
Some 62% of voters believe Labour should concentrate on its own plans for Government, compared with 20% who believe they should scrutinise Reform more.
The poll also found Labour’s failures – including the recent exits of Angela Rayner and Lord Mandelson – have had more cut-through with the public than the party’s successes in Government.
A total of 2,055 people were surveyed on Labour’s record between September 19 and 22.
Sir Keir hopes that demonstrating his Government can deliver on its promises, such as unleashing a wave of housebuilding, will stem the flow of voters to Reform.
The construction of three new towns will begin before the next election, the Housing Secretary Steve Reed will pledge.
They are likely to be Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill, north London.
Plans for a total of 12 new towns will be taken forward, but those three are the “most promising sites” for early work.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood acknowledged that if Labour fails to secure the borders “there will be more division in our country”.
She promised reforms to migration law, with tougher rules for people who are entitled to be in the UK.
She told the Sun on Sunday she wanted to tighten rules around claiming indefinite leave to remain, the status which grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years.
Ms Mahmood added: “We need legal migration, it is a good thing. We are a country that has always welcomed people who want to come and work here.
“But I think in addition to living and working here there is a bigger thing to do as well which is to make sure that people are making a contribution to their wider community and wider society.”
She went on to say that ministers are looking at how to make sure indefinite leave to remain “is linked not just to the job you are doing”, but also “the wider contribution you are making to our communities”.
The Home Secretary also promised reforms to human rights laws by Christmas to make it easier for her to deport illegal migrants.
The European Convention on Human Rights and other treaties have been “used in a way that was never intended”, Ms Mahmood said
Securing the border is “fundamental to holding the country together”, she said.
“I know if I’m not able to get this mess sorted out, then there will be more division in our country.
“The far right is on the rise. I think that’s a dangerous moment for the country.”
