‘Ego trip’ that could backfire on Britain: With his party opening the door to a Labour by-election win, Reform hit out at Restore leader’s ‘vanity’
The former Reform MP, who opposed Nigel Farage’s party, was accused of caring more about his own ego than the good of the country when opening the door to Andy Burnham.
Polls suggest Rupert Lowe’s Remake Britain bid could pave the way for the Mayor of Greater Manchester to claim victory in next month’s tight Makerfield by-election, putting him on track to become the country’s next radical Left prime minister.
Mr Burnham was just three points ahead of Reform candidate Robert Kenyon, a plumber, while Restore Britain’s Rebecca Shepherd came in third place with a significant 7 per cent.
Before becoming a Reform MP in 2024, Mr Lowe was a member of Mr Farage’s Brexit Party, a Reform frontrunner.
He was expelled from the party the following year following accusations of bullying and threats of violence against Reform figures, which he denied. The police investigation into the allegations has been suspended.
Mr Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, sat as an independent before launching Restore Britain.
He said yesterday that Reform was ‘fiery indignant’ over Restore’s stop at Makerfield.
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe accused of ‘caring more about his own ego and self-importance than what’s best for the country’
Polls show Restore Britain could pave the way for Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to claim victory in next month’s Makerfield by-election
He also claimed that Reform was weak on immigration, promising that his party would oversee the deportation of ‘entire communities’ from the country, and branded foreign rapists and their ‘accomplices’ as ‘cancers’.
But a senior Reform source said Mr Lowe was ‘more concerned with his ego and vanity than what is best for the country’.
They added: ‘Our internal figures show Restore at a small, single-figure percentage. ‘The only thing they can achieve by surviving is to gift the seat to Labor and Andy Burnham.’
It comes after Mr Farage lashed out at US tech billionaire Elon Musk’s support for Restore Britain, warning that Mr Burnham would be ‘delighted’ by the break in the Right-wing vote.
Luke Tryl, from think tank More at Common UK, said: [Restore Britain is] They are unlikely to get many votes themselves, but if they get a low share it could make a big difference. our spring [poll] The envisaged Reform would be on the verge of majority without the Restore state.
‘But if Rupert Lowe’s party gets as little as 3 per cent of the vote, it could cost Reform 70 seats and make it much harder to form a government.’
He added: ‘Early voting shows Restore vote could be the difference between Labor and Reform winning [Makerfield].’
In local elections earlier this month, Mr Farage fell short of a majority on Norfolk County Council. Great Yarmouth First, a local party affiliated with Restore Britain, won a landslide in the town, taking all nine seats on the council.
Mr Lowe was a member of Reform frontrunner Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party before becoming a Reform MP in 2024.
Matt Goodwin, a senior Reform figure, said: ‘Unless all patriotic voters unite behind Reform at Makerfield, Andy Burnham will win, call a snap general election and leave Britain under a hard Left government until 2031.’
Mr Lowe said: ‘The increasingly desperate attacks of every Reform politician prove one thing; their internal data matches the data we found at Makerfield.
‘They have nothing left. ‘Restore Britain will make history at Makerfield.’
At the weekend, Restore Britain’s Huddersfield branch organizer resigned, claiming the party had fallen into a ‘state of paralysis’ and was being led by ‘obfuscation and misdirection’.
Reform also faced questions yesterday about Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon.
In a now-deleted X account, Mr Kenyon promoted a post that used derogatory sexual language about former Countdown star Carol Vorderman.
But Reform MP Danny Kruger said Mr Kenyon spoke on social media as if he were ‘chatting to friends in the pub’.
He added: ‘I will not judge people for what was considered and intended to be essentially private conversation at the time. He deleted that post and regretted it.’
