‘Farage is Nando’s lemon and herb’: Inside the Reform and Restore row

A bitter row has erupted between Nigel Farage and his former colleague-turned-arch-nemesis Rupert Lowe – and it could hand Andy Burnham a path to Westminster.

Days of furious public jousting on social media between the two men have laid bare the tensions on the right of UK politics ahead of the Makerfield by-election on 18 June.

The seat has been held by Labour since its creation, and Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor, is hoping to win it as a springboard to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.

Reform UK are polling strongly in the seat and could block Burnham’s path to power. But with Restore Britain – Lowe’s new political party – also fielding a candidate, pollsters say there is a risk the right-wing vote will split and hand victory to Labour.

And there are signs that the threat of Restore is weighing on the minds of Reform ahead of polling day.

Sarah Pochin, a Reform MP, accidentally described the contest as a straight fight between Burnham and Lowe’s party rather than her own in an interview with Talk TV. She quickly corrected herself before joking: “I’ll be sacked for saying that.”

Bitter feud on the right

The row kicked off in earnest on Sunday, when Lowe posted on X that Restore Britain was “under brutal assault by the establishment” and the country was “too far gone” to be helped by Reform.

His comments were then reposted by Elon Musk – the billionaire owner of X and Tesla – who accompanied it with the phrase: “Restore Britain.”

He then posted the same phrase in response to a separate interview by Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick. The two posts were widely read as an endorsement of Lowe and a direct snub to Reform.

Later that day, Farage hit back. He told The Telegraph that Burnham would be “delighted” by Musk’s intervention. “Elon Musk has decided he will try to split the right of British politics as best he can,” he said. “This is supporting a party that’s one man with a social media account. Quite what he’s trying to achieve, I have no idea.”

Lowe appeared unimpressed, responding on X that Farage has “never been more wrong” and the party was focused on “our members, our people, our home”.

Then, more Reform voice got involved, dragging the party’s Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon into the row. On Monday, Matt Goodwin – who stood unsuccessfully for Reform in the Gorton and Denton by-election – criticised Restore’s Makerfield candidate Rebecca Shepherd on X, suggesting she was not “what saving Britain looks like”.

Lowe responded by pointing to historic messages unearthed by Hope Not Hate in which Kenyon appeared to endorse a post containing graphic sexual language about the broadcaster Carol Vorderman.

The Restore leader repeated the graphic details in response to Goodwin, adding: “A healthy mind, that is not.”

Lowe went on to post about Kenyon on Tuesday, claiming the Makerfield plumber supported “EU open borders [and] mass immigration”.

Kenyon responded: “I used to respect you Rupert. Restore have never wanted anything to do with this area. But now someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth is trying to lie about the only working-class local man in the race.”

Reform has defended Kenyon following controversies over his past social meda posts. A spokesperson said: “Rob isn’t a polished, professional politician and doesn’t speak like one. That’s precisely why he’ll be a straight-talking, effective voice for normal working people in Makerfield.”

Is Restore really a threat?

At the heart of the row is a long-running feud between Lowe and Reform. He was suspended from the party in March 2025 after allegations he had threatened violence towards party chairman Zia Yusuf.

The Great Yarmouth MP has denied the claims and said they were politically motivated. He launched Restore shortly after, and has become a vocal critic of Farage.

A senior Reform source told The i Paper that Lowe’s “main purpose in life seems to be to destroy Nigel Farage and Reform”, adding: “Rather than provide something for the country which is constructive and helpful… they just seem to want to f**k up Reform.”

But they did concede Lowe’s outfit posed a threat. “There’s going to be a lot of anger if they split the vote in Makerfield and they somehow let Burnham slip through the middle. I can’t see the public cutting them much slack for that. It’s wilful, and it’s stupid and it’s dangerous.”

A Restore Britain spokesman responded: “Reform are clearly seeing the same level of support for Restore Britain in Makerfield as we are.

“It is evident to anyone with an X account that they are shitting themselves. Good.”

The only published poll of the constituency highlights the problem. A Survation survey of 504 voters in Makerfield put Labour on 43 per cent and Reform on 40 per cent, with Restore trailing on 7 per cent.

But the senior Reform source was sceptical over what Lowe’s party could offer Makerfield. They continued: “[Restore have] copied the slogans, they’ve copied the sentiment, they’ve copied how they speak to the press. I just think it’s like that old analogy: if you’ve got a fillet steak at home in the form of Nigel Farage and Reform, why on earth would you go out for a cheap hamburger?”

However, Robert Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, suggested Reform may not need to worry too much.

He told The i Paper: “The question is how voters who find Restore attractive see the race. Do they think ‘splitting the vote lets Labour in’? Or do they think, ‘Burnham is going to win anyway and I want Starmer out, so may as well register my discontent with Farage being the equivalent of Nando’s lemon [and herb] sauce while Lowe is full heat’?

“My suspicion is some voters will realise a Restore vote helps ‘get Starmer out’ and registers discontent with Farage – and that’s win-win for them.”

‘On an absolute knife-edge’

For now, many in Labour are seeing the Reform-Restore row as good news for Burnham.

One Labour MP told The i Paper: “There are a lot of people who are still hopeful that Andy could offer some change, and I don’t think the situation is as tricky as the polls are suggesting in Makerfield.”

“There’s a very real chance now that Restore are going to split that vote, which could benefit Andy very well.”

The i Paper understands Labour is set to update its voter collection software to take into account that so many Makerfield voters are saying they will pick Restore. Until now there had been no button on the party’s iPads to record support for Lowe’s party.

Howver, another Labour source canvassing in Makerfield over the weekend was sceptical of the extent of Restore’s support, adding: “I did see a bit of Restore campaign action, but it was quite limited – maybe five or so posters.”

But, despite this optimism, a lot of uncertainty remains. Professor Sir John Curtice, one of Britain’s foremost polling experts, said the combined Labour, Lib Dem and Green vote in Makerfield was currently projected at 50 per cent – matching the joint Reform, Restore Britain and Conservative vote exactly.

“The place is on an absolute knife-edge,” he told The Telegraph. “Restore Britain is intervening and making life much more difficult for Reform.”

But he added that if Reform squeezed the Restore vote – having already lost one in eight of their 2024 voters to Lowe’s party – “even if this poll is accurate, Reform could still overtake Burnham”.

المصدر: iNews