Many predicted that the Makerfield by-election would be a straight up race between Labour and Reform. Surprising many, however, Reform is now fighting on two fronts, with the even-more-hardline Restore Britain challenging the party from its right.
As we reported, this state of affairs has led to Reform panicking and lashing out. And the signs are that Reform’s decision to openly go to war with Restore may be working in the latter party’s favour:
So there is panic internally in Reform as I stated earlier being the reason for the Restore attacks and that there had to be internal polling issues
They are admitting to a Restore tally of around 18% and themselves being around 8% behind Labour pic.twitter.com/QX3QKuFK0b
— dave lawrence
(@dave43law) May 25, 2026
Reform panic stations
The leader of Restore is ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe. Lowe formed the party after a falling out with Farage (and quite a dramatic falling out at that). In his own words:
Farage and Reform tried to put me in prison because I backed the mass deportation of Pakistani child rapists and their foreign wives/relatives who allowed it to happen.
My home was raided by armed police late on a Friday night as a direct result of Reform’s allegations. My guns were seized. They tried to ruin my life. In every way.
Farage admitted on national television it was all because I backed mass deportations.
He said that was the moment they realised they ‘had to get rid’ of me.
Not the bullshit allegations they went to the police with, but the fact I want the Pakistani rapists removed from our country.
He admitted it.
That all happened.
The polling post comes from Charlie Simpson of the right-wing GB Politics. While Simpson isn’t even old enough to vote, he does seemingly have contacts in Reform UK, because he’s broken several stories which later proved to be accurate.
If the data provided to Simpson is correct, Restore is doing significantly better than previous polls suggested. This is big news if so, because Farage was already panicking about Restore potentially ‘stealing’ a victory from him:
The Times have just released a new poll for the Makerfield by-election by Survation.
Robert Kenyon is the only candidate who can stop Andy Burnham.
This is a two horse race – nobody else comes close. pic.twitter.com/zZ75PasBdt
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 23, 2026
Splitters
On the matter of Restore ‘stealing’ votes, many have pointed out that Farage isn’t best placed to make this argument. After all, you could say Reform stole victory from Rishi Sunak in 2024 by appealing to former Tory loyalists. This is why Restore supporters are making the same argument that Farage himself made in 2024 (the video shows Farage criticising Robert Jenrick – the Tory who would later join Reform):
“You’re Splitting the Vote” Really? Watch this…
a year on, Nigels making him his Chancellor !! The only “splitting the vote” was done when Reform sold out !! @RestoreBritain_ pic.twitter.com/RGKT1PXblM
— Orla Minihane (@orlaminihane) May 24, 2026
The hypocrisy doesn’t end there either:
So Reform have gone from demanding an early election to desperately trying to stop one because they think they’ll lose. And they admit Andy Burnham really is so popular nationally he’ll be able to reverse Reform’s surge and win for Labour. https://t.co/hnhvOFmGgN
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 25, 2026
As Labour has a huge majority and more than three years before it needs to announce a general election, it seems unlikely Burnham would call one. Reform politicians do need to give people a reason to vote for them, though, and this strategy shows they’re worried Restore is doing a better job of appealing to the far-right element of their base than they are.
If you’re wondering why Restore is hoovering up those voters, by the way, it’s because Lowe is pulling the same trick Reform pulled with the Tories – i.e. just being further right on everything.
The Reform UK account, meanwhile, has claimed the party has “all the momentum” in response to a national poll:
Reform has all the momentum in British politics.
https://t.co/ZiNG67Abn8
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) May 25, 2026
If Restore is gaining traction in Makerfield, however, this just isn’t true.
The media erupts
It’s not just Reform politicians gunning for Restore, either; it’s also the party’s allies in the establishment media. The genocide-denying Islamophobe Melanie Phillips wrote this for the Times:
Restore’s extremism is a problem for Nigel Farage https://t.co/Xw6QxYMJTz
— Times Politics (@timespolitics) May 25, 2026
Alex Phillips of Talk TV completely lost it when talking about Lowe:
The meltdown of Alex Phillips continues as Restore Britain gains grows in stature pic.twitter.com/CI2OEbq2Ky
— Basil the Great (@BasilTheGreat) May 24, 2026
GB News is covering what Farage said, but the outlet is somewhat guarded overall – possibly assuming their audience contains a lot of Lowe fans (what you might call ‘Lowe-lifes’):
Nigel Farage urges right to unite in Makerfield after poll claims Restore Britain would let Andy Burnham into No10
https://t.co/ORglLzQqVl— GB News (@GBNEWS) May 25, 2026
This guardedness hasn’t stopped Lowe from suggesting GB News is part of the establishment:
Hit piece just gone up against Restore Britain in the Times – follows GB News, Hope not Hate, the Telegraph, Guardian and many others in the last few days.
We’re going for a full house.
The establishment despises Restore Britain.
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 25, 2026
Getting to the weirder side of the right-wing press, spiked published the following:
Rupert Lowe’s vanity is off the charts. His party, Restore Britain, is shaving votes from Reform UK in Makerfield. This could hand a victory to Andy Burnham and let the ‘King of the North’ become PM. Restore is the enemy of populism, says Brendan O’Neillhttps://t.co/LGj1YK4nhh
— spiked (@spikedonline) May 25, 2026
Restore Britain has also won the support of Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, with Farage responding as follows:
Farage has just gone to the media to attack Restore Britain, again. He says that Elon Musk is supporting a party ‘that’s one man with a social media account.’
This is where Farage is so very wrong.
There are thousands and thousands and thousands of Restore Britain members,…
— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) May 24, 2026
As much as we don’t want to defend the vile Lowe, it does seem he’s not wrong:
Jut for fairness, this does reflect what I found in Makerfield. Restore have much more of a presence on the ground than I was anticipating. Have to see if they can sustain it. But it’s real. https://t.co/Vr43DKeHZa
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 23, 2026
Also, if Restore was “just one man with a social media account”, Reform wouldn’t be dedicating so much time to attacking it.
A losing strategy
Reform’s Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon had this to say:
Jesus how bad are the Restore numbers? https://t.co/vS3CN6OdYo
— w////am
(@willuminare) May 25, 2026
It’s likely not the case that voters are telling him ‘it’s a two horse race‘, because that’s not the sort of thing a person would say to a political canvasser. It could be residents are only talking about Reform or Labour, but given the polling, we know that’s likely not true.
In other words, it’s almost certainly another instance of Reform trying to convince voters they have to vote for the party – not that it’s in their best interests. This is the strategy Labour and the Tories increasingly relied on, and we know in the long run it’s a loser.
If there’s anything the last few years have proven, it’s that British voters are sick of being told who they have to vote for. People aren’t playing by the establishment’s rules anymore, and Reform is clearly just another establishment-continuation party.
Featured image via Ryan Jenkinson (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
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