Reform UK will be forced to change their campaign strategy in the wake of their performance in the Makerfield by-election if they want to win power in 2029, party insiders and pollsters have said.
Nigel Farage said he was “disappointed” with his party’s vote share, which at 34 per cent was well behind Andy Burnham’s 55 per cent.
Restore Britain received just 7 per cent, which when combined with Reform was still not greater than the Labour vote. However, it was still a significant achievement for leader Rupert Lowe’s party, and enough for Farage to urge people who voted for the rival right-wing party to “think again”.
Shorts
Before the result was announced in the early hours of Friday, Lowe had claimed that anything greater than 2 per cent, which was what his party had been recording in some previous polls, would be a “tremendous result”.
