Nigel Farage has always prided himself on being able to see off any threat from his right flank. But now a new force has emerged in the form of his ex-colleague Rupert Lowe. When the two Reform MPs fell out 15 months ago, friends shared memes of Farage’s past fallen rivals ascending to heaven. ‘Come and join us, Rupert!’ they exhorted. Instead, Lowe fought back, setting up his own party, Restore Britain. In the Makerfield by-election on 18 June, one poll puts Restore on 7 per cent– enough to stop Reform and hand the seat to Labour’s Andy Burnham.
Restore’s strategy is simple: use Farage’s playbook against him. Like Farage, Lowe has put his faith in social media, building up a noisy following that can then be turned into a campaigning force. The picture Lowe presents to his 780,000 followers on X is a more pugnacious version of the content he pumps out to his 1.3 million fans on Facebook. Lowe’s posts demanding mass deportation and the banning of the burka are mixed with smiling images of him pottering about the farm. For some supporters, Lowe embodies an old-fashioned 1980s-style Tory – a more respectable choice, in their eyes, than the shop-soiled Farage.
Many of Restore’s new members are a mix of the dejected and rejected. Some are former Reform councillors who quit after feeling unappreciated. Others have lost faith with Farage, believing that he has softened his stance. Unsurprisingly, avowed racists and nationalists have signed up to Restore too, including Steve Laws, who campaigns for the deportation of everyone in Britain with non-white heritage. ‘We do not endorse our members’ opinions,’ says a Restore spokesman: ‘they endorse our position.’
