Rupert Lowe is the leader of Restore Britain – a Reform UK breakaway party. The important thing to know about Lowe is that he doesn’t just want to break away; he wants to break the party entirely. Or, to be more accurate, he wants to break its leader – Nigel Farage. And now he has a plan to do that:
Rupert Lowe said he is going to end Nigel Farage’s career and will throw everything he has at doing so.
He said that if the House of Commons Standards Committee inquiry into Farage over the £5 million leads to a suspension and triggers a recall petition in his Clacton seat, Lowe…
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) June 28, 2026
Farage in danger
Farage is facing attacks from many fronts at the moment, but two of his most serious battles are:
- The ongoing ‘£5m gift’ scandal.
- Losing voters to the further-right Restore Britain.
On the £5m gift, Alonso Gurmendi summarised:
Here are the facts as laid down by Derbyshire:
- Farage says he won’t run
- crypto billionaire pays him £5mill
- Farage U-turns and runs
- Farage hides the donation
- Farage announces if he wins the election he will slash capital gains tax for crypto firms
Farage is facing multiple investigations as a result of not declaring this ‘gift’. And if these investigations don’t go his way, Farage could face a by-election to hold on to his Clacton seat.
This is where the £5m gift scandal and the Rupert Lowe threat merge into one big problem.
When he goes Lowe
Should Farage face a by-election, Lowe has said his party will throw “everything it has” at Reform. His party did the same in the Makerfield by-election, and while it wasn’t a deciding factor, it did take a fair chunk out of the far right vote:
BREAKING: Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election
LAB: 24,937 (+6,725) – 54.8%
REF: 15,696 (+2,893) – 34.5%
RES: 3,111 (NEW) – 6.8%
CON: 997 (-3,382) – 2.2%
GRN: 308 (-1,468) – 0.7%
LD: 163 (-2,572) – 0.4%
Changes w/ 2024
58.75% turnout— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 19, 2026
It’s worth bearing in mind that Restore had basically no national recognition at the start of the Makerfield by-election. The party didhave a significant presence on social media, however, and it turns out Facebook is real life to some voters.
As Jack Hadfield of GB News notes, Lowe is calling for ‘right unity’ with one breath while vowing to crush Farage with the next:
The absolute nerve of “Rupert” to demand unity on the right when he wants to take out Farage in any way possible.
You can’t ask for unity now if your entire purpose is to be a wrecker. We should work together on this issue, obviously, but the sheer hypocrisy is unbelievable! https://t.co/DI7nXbnoHG pic.twitter.com/SeUMoU89LR
— Jack Hadfield
(@JackHadders) June 28, 2026
When it comes to Lowe, it does seem like his issue is mostly just his old boss. As we previously reported:
The timeline of Lowe leaving Reform is messy. The TLDR is:
- Lowe began criticising Farage (seemingly in coordination with Elon Musk).
- Farage suggested Lowe wouldn’t be anywhere near office without Nigel’s cult of personality (a.k.a. Reform).
- Reform suspended Lowe and reported him to the police for ‘verbal threats’ and “serious bullying” of female staffers.
- Lowe described the accusations as “vexatious”.
- Several months of back and forth ensued.
With someone like Lowe, it’s better to have them on the inside pissing out than on the outside pissing in. Now, Farage is going to learn why that saying exists.
While Lowe is pissing in, meanwhile, Farage appears to be pissing himself.
Farage throwing in the towel?
The other question for Reform is if Farage has any fight left in him. Commentator Don McGowan noted that there are growing signs that Farage could be on his way out:
Is Farage is finally finding out?
His time is up, days numbered, cards marked.
Reports told us that Robert Jenrick has been telling tales out of school [quelle surprise!] and made disparaging remarks about his leader.
David Bull* publicly called for his old boss to ‘take a break from politics’ — a comment with so much shade that it leaves very little to the imagination.
Bull has disputed this interpretation of his words:
What a desperate attack line from @Conservatives.
Even great leaders need a holiday, and nobody has worked harder to change Britain for the better over the last 30 years than @Nigel_Farage.
Is it any wonder you’re so obsessed when @reformparty_uk continues to lead every poll?…
— Dr David Bull (@drdavidbull) June 27, 2026
Whether you believe this Bull or not, you have to acknowledge it would be odd for Farage to take a break now – at the start of the Greater Manchester mayor by-election. Because make no mistake; it’s a race the polls say Reform could win if they put some effort in:
LAB: 33.2% (-30.2)
CON: 11.1% (+0.7)
From FocusData / Hope Not Hate
From 22nd May – 5th June
Changes with 2024 Mayoral Election— PolliticsUK (@PolliticsUK) June 25, 2026
Of course, it’s also true that these by-election polls keep overestimating how well Reform is going to do. Still, that’s no reason to put less effort in; doing so would only give the impression that Reform is even weaker than its critics believe.
McGowan also questioned if the constant leaks about Farage moving aside are:
being drip fed by the central party crisis management team? My Spidey Senses tell me that they may already understand that Farage’s £5M donation is about to result in a suspension from the House.
Would he stand again in Clacton? Would he win if he did? The answer to these two questions would once have been a certainty — now, not so much.
He looks tired and weary. The upkeep on seven houses and the perpetual globe-trotting on private jets seems to be taking its toll.
Let them fight
On Lowe’s motives, we previously speculated that he would:
- Split the far-right vote.
- Force Farage out of Reform.
- Merge the two parties into one with himself as leader.
Step 1 is in full swing; Step 2 seems to be kicking into gear. If Step 3 transpires, it’s going to be a worry, because it will mean Reform/Restore is able to move forwards without the constant infighting. Well, until Lowe pisses someone off, and they form their own breakaway party, of course.
This is the problem with a political movement that revolves around coddling the egos of fragile narcissists.
Featured image via the Canary
By Willem Moore
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