Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg, Jacob Rees-Mogg has argued that the Tories should step down for Reform UK in the Makerfield by-election. The problem with his argument is that Reform seemingly wants to replace the Tories, and so any attempt to work with them will just benefit Farage:
Jacob Rees Mogg says the right needs to work together, and a vote for Restore in Makerfield will lead to Burnham winning (who he describes as a hard left semi-Corbynista!) pic.twitter.com/SctCXo1iRA
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) June 7, 2026
Reform, Restore, replace
In the clip above, Kuenssberg puts the following to Rees-Mogg:
Nigel Farage had a big fallout with a man called Rupert Lowe, who was a reform MP, and he set up [Restore Britain]. Do you think there’s a risk that Reform might lose because of that fallout and the right splits?
Kuenssberg was referencing the fact that Restore could be the difference between Reform or Labour winning the Makerfield by-election:
POLL | Burnham expands lead in Makerfield:
Lab: 49% (+6)
Ref: 39% (-1)
Res: 8% (+1)
Grn: 2% (-1)
Lib: 1% (-3)
Con: 1% (-1)
Via @Survation, 1 June (+/- vs 22 May) pic.twitter.com/IXTHwUTabh
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) June 5, 2026
The right split isn’t happening because of a personal beef between two men; it’s happening because of the growing contradictions between Reform UK’s rhetoric and its actions.
As an example of this, take Zia Yusuf. Yusuf is one of Reform’s most prominent politicians, and he’s constantly arguing that white people are the most oppressed group in the UK:
Structural anti-white racism is embedded in British policing pic.twitter.com/kGAiu5PDnT
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) June 3, 2026
If you’re a far-right voter who buys into this, why would you vote for the party with Zia Yusuf and Suella Braverman in it? Why wouldn’t you vote for the all-white Restore Britain, which is more obviously following through on Reform’s propaganda?
If you are that sort of voter, no doubt you’ve been trained to believe every prominent Black or Muslim person in the UK got where they are at the expense of a more qualified white person. Yusuf has literally made the argument himself:
The NHS will shortly be more than 50% staffed by ethnic minorities.
So the army of DEI officers on princely salaries – presumably their sole focus is to hire more white people?
What am I missing?
We need a return to merit based hiring, and anything other than that must be made…
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) January 29, 2025
How did Yusuf not understand how easily this would be turned against him?
Reform politicians have also argued that the sight of Black and Asian people on the TV should make a person apoplectic:
Sarah Pochin MP: “It drives me mad seeing adverts full of black and Asian people.”
Caller Stuart in London asks the Reform MP if her party will do anything about the ‘representation of demographics in TV adverts’.@petercardwell | @SarahForRuncorn pic.twitter.com/RivnW1tusj
— Talk (@TalkTV) October 25, 2025
Reform think they can create an environment in which voters are hopping mad at the sight of prominent non-white people, but also that they’ll gleefully vote for Yusuf and Braverman.
Restore have realised this isn’t wholly the case.
And this is why the British far-right has split.
Delusional
Back to the interview, Rees-Mogg responded:
Well, I keep on banging on that the right should come together. We need to work out how we can cooperate to win elections like this. There’s a by-election in Aberdeen South going on at the same time. What I suggested is the Tories should help reform in Makerfield in return for reform helping us in Aberdeen South. That If we could win both of those, that would be very positive for the small C Conservatives in British politics.
And I think Restore, Restore vote is a wasted vote. I mean, it is not helping anybody.
First things first, Reform UK clearly aren’t “small C Conservatives”. We’re talking about a party which threatened to build detention centres in the constituencies of those who refused to vote Reform; not a party which is looking to rein-in the deficit a bit.
Secondly, Rees-Mogg is off his penny farthing if he thinks this idea is going to benefit the Tories. The reason Reform is doing well is because the party has done to the Tories what Restore is now doing to Reform. Successive Tory prime ministers talked a big game on being anti-migration while simultaneously increasing migration. This created space for a party to their right to call out the contradictions and to capitalise on them.
While the Tories are greatly diminished, the reason they’ve retained any sort of vote share is because not every Tory vibes with the uncouth Farage or the army of shitheads who worship him. Should the Tories start validating Reform by entering into electoral pacts, they’d be at risk of losing what voters they have left.
In other words, Rees-Mogg is either considerably less intelligent than his education might suggest, or he’s working to promote Farage’s interests. And there are other signs that he is indeed Farage’s man:
Just Jacob Rees-Mogg making excuses for Nigel Farage’s words which led to rioting in Southampton after the death of Henry Nowak pic.twitter.com/Kvym4Th2g5
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 7, 2026
Divide and divide again
It’s worth noting that the contradictions which have become glaringly apparent in the Tories and Reform aren’t unique to them. Restore is also facing criticism for failing to follow through on its promise of ‘blood and soil’ white supremacy – specifically for working with the Pakistani-born Ben Habib:
I love it when nazis have a meltdown.
They’re kicking off because Rupert Lowe invited Ben Habib to campaign with him https://t.co/qntI6ZxMvB
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) June 6, 2026
Reactionary right-wing politics are just that – a reaction to whatever’s happening. And in their cynical attempts to rile up voters, all of these parties are at risk of collapsing in on themselves.
The duty of anyone who actually cares about this country is to help ensure the collapse happens sooner rather than later.
Featured image via Ian Forsyth (Getty Images) / Alishia Abodunde (Getty Images) / Ryan Jenkinson (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
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