Elon Musk retweet signals rightwing split that could help Andy Burnham in Makerfield | Byelections
It seems unlikely that Andy Burnham will be Elon Musk’s first choice as British prime minister. But the US tech billionaire’s intervention on behalf of the far-right wing of Reform UK is one of several signs that a divided right wing could hand the seat of Makerfield to the mayor of Manchester.
On June 18, Burnham will stand in the Greater Manchester by-election and polls show her only slightly ahead of Reform candidate Robert Kenyon, the plumber. But the far-right party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe appears to be gaining support from Reform.
Lowe, who represents Great Yarmouth, had an extraordinary falling out with Nigel Farage and had the whip suspended after he was accused by the party of bullying and verbal abuse. He denies all these allegations. Lowe later founded a rival party called Restore Britain and appears to enjoy taking votes from Reform.
Restore nominates 53-year-old local businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd as its candidate. He’s gaining support according to a recent poll, which has alarming Reform figures. The Survation poll, which polled 369 respondents in the Greater Manchester constituency and eliminated undecided voters, placed Restore Britain third on 7%, Reform second on 40% and Labor on 43%.
Party sources said Labor campaigners realized growing support for Restore was on the doorstep.
Farage said Burnham would be “delighted” after Musk shared a tweet from Lowe about the by-election that read “Rebuild Britain”. He told the Telegraph: “Elon Musk has decided to carve up the rights to British politics as much as he can. This is supporting a party made up of just one person with a social media account. I have no idea what exactly he is trying to achieve.”
Restore has also received backing from former Dragons’ Den star and gym mogul Duncan Bannatyne, who last week said Shepherd was “very passionate” about “rejuvenating our high streets”.
To run the campaign at Makerfield, Lowe hired disgraced former Conservative MP Scott Benton, who lost the whip in 2023 after suggesting to undercover reporters at the Times that he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money. A Reform source said: “Lowe constantly attacks us for accepting the old Tory, now working with a Tory who resigned his seat in disgrace.”
Restore is calling for a “return” which it describes as “the most ambitious mass deportation program ever seen in the UK”. of the party manifest It promises to deport foreign legal residents if they live in social housing or receive social benefits, for example.
Lowe used offensive language about immigrants at his recent campaign launch at Makerfield: “They should be deported to a sandfly-infested island off the coast of England or Scotland and let the sandflies do the rest.” Reform figures noted that Shepherd appeared uncomfortable standing next to Lowe as he made these statements, and he grimaced. One of them said, “I wonder if he knows why he came in?” he said.
Reform is trying to combat this growing support for Lowe’s party. The official
A Reform source said: “I think people are quite worried because, as Makerfield has shown, it only requires a few per cent.”
The increased support for Restore also appears to be reflected in voter sentiment. Pollster Luke Tryl of More in Common said: “We’re generally noticing that they come up more in focus groups, particularly Lowe’s, among more right-leaning participants. They tend to be more engaged people, so I think the test is whether they’re just an online phenomenon or something deeper, and Makerfield can show that.”
He added: “Even if they get 2-3% at the general election in an age of fragmented politics, that could still be enough to make a big difference in terms of seats and so Farage would be chasing those voters but running the risk of drifting away from the wider mainstream he needs to get to No 10.”
Raheem Kassam, a former chief adviser to Nigel Farage, remains close to the Reform UK leader and spent the local election campaign on the road with him.
Kassam, who now lives in Washington, D.C., described Restore as “a grudge party by any measure” and blasted Musk’s support for it.
“After Elon failed on Doge and then ‘America party’ idea canceledAfter meeting Nigel, she returned to England as he refused to give in to her demands. A grudge party in every way. Rupert was caught planning a coup against Nigel. And Elon because Farage told him to fuck off.”
Kassam added: “I think the British right will understand this and Lowe, who I compared to Rodney Trotter in real life, is just [Musk’s] A little piece of pawn.”
Lowe doesn’t seem bothered by the prospect of helping Andy Burnham win. He described the poll as “establishment polls” and claimed it “doesn’t match up with our polls that show we have the most incredible support.”
He added: “The collapse of the establishment on Restore Britain has been astounding in the last two days – trust me when I say this, they will keep coming for us. They want us gone. My advice? Ignore the noise, keep calm, Restore Britain.”
