A former Reform MP challenging Nigel Farage’s faction has sparked controversy, being accused of prioritizing personal ambition over national interest, as he potentially boosts Andy Burnham’s prospects.
Current surveys indicate that Rupert Lowe’s new political movement, Restore Britain, might facilitate a win for the Mayor of Greater Manchester in the upcoming crucial Makerfield by-election. This victory could set Burnham on a trajectory to become the next progressive prime minister.
Andy Burnham presently leads by a slim margin, just three percentage points ahead of Reform’s contender, plumber Robert Kenyon. Meanwhile, Restore Britain’s candidate, Rebecca Shepherd, holds a pivotal 7 percent of the vote share.
Lowe, once affiliated with Farage’s Brexit Party, which eventually became Reform, served as a Reform MP starting in 2024.
However, by the following year, he faced expulsion due to accusations of bullying and threats against other Reform members—allegations he denies. The police eventually dismissed the investigation.
After his tenure with Reform, Lowe represented Great Yarmouth as an independent before founding Restore Britain.
He said yesterday that Reform is ‘incandescently angry’ that Restore is standing in Makerfield.
Restore leader Rupert Lowe (pictured earlier this month) has been accused of ‘caring more about his ego and vanity than what’s best for the country’
Polls suggest Lowe’s Restore Britain could pave the way for Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham (pictured on Friday) to claim victory in next month’s crunch Makerfield by-election
He also suggested that Reform is weak on immigration, promising that his party would oversee ‘entire communities’ being deported from the country, and branded foreign rapists and their ‘accomplices’ as ‘that cancer’.
But a senior Reform source said Mr Lowe is someone who ‘cares more about his ego and vanity than what’s best for the country’.
They added: ‘Our internal figures show Restore on a tiny, single-figure percentage. The only thing they can succeed in doing by standing is gifting the seat to Labour and Andy Burnham.’
It comes after Mr Farage lashed out at US tech billionaire Elon Musk’s endorsement of Restore Britain, warning that Mr Burnham would be ‘delighted’ by the fracturing of the Right-wing vote.
Luke Tryl, of think-tank More in Common UK, said: ‘While [Restore Britain is] unlikely to score huge numbers of votes themselves, if they achieve a low share they could make all the difference. Our spring [poll] projected Reform would be on the cusp of a majority without Restore standing.
‘But if Rupert Lowe’s party were to achieve as low as 3 per cent, that could cost Reform up to 70 seats and make forming a government far harder.’
He added: ‘Early polling suggests Restore’s vote could be the difference between Labour or Reform winning [Makerfield].’
In the local elections earlier this month, Mr Farage fell short of a majority on Norfolk County Council. Great Yarmouth First, an affiliate local party of Restore Britain, won a landslide in the town, picking up all nine of its council seats.
Mr Lowe was a member of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, the precursor to Reform, before becoming a Reform MP in 2024 (Farage is pictured earlier this month)
Senior Reform figure Matt Goodwin said: ‘I think unless all patriotic voters unite behind Reform in Makerfield, then Andy Burnham will win, call an early snap general election and put Britain under a hard-Left government until 2031.’
Mr Lowe said: ‘The increasingly desperate attacks from every Reform politician proves one thing – their internal data matches what we are finding in Makerfield.
‘They have nothing left. Restore Britain is going to make history in Makerfield.’
Over the weekend, Restore Britain’s branch organiser for Huddersfield quit, claiming the party had fallen into a ‘state of paralysis’ and is run through ‘obfuscation and misdirection’.
Reform also faced questions yesterday about their Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon.
On a now-deleted X account, Mr Kenyon supported a post using degrading sexual language about former Countdown star Carol Vorderman.
But Reform MP Danny Kruger said Mr Kenyon had been talking on social media as if he were ‘chatting to their friends in the pub’.
He added: ‘I’m not going to judge people for what are essentially regarded at the time, and intended as, private conversations. He’s deleted that post and regrets it.’
