At the Makerfield by-election, where Labour’s Andy Burnham emerged victorious shortly before becoming the British prime minister, Restore Britain earned 6.8 percent to Reform’s 34.5 percent. Even though their combined efforts wouldn’t have overcome Burnham, Farage criticized the outcome, asking Restore voters: “What do you want?”
A similar trend was observed at last week’s Greater Manchester mayoral by-election to replace Burnham, with Restore garnering 8.7 percent of first preference votes.
What’s the latest on a rapprochement?
After the Greater Manchester contest, Lowe recorded a 12-minute X video urging both leaders to set “personal differences aside” to achieve credible change. Lowe’s speech included five conditions, such as a referendum on the death penalty, banning halal and kosher meat, and preventing former center-right Conservative ministers who’ve switched to Reform from playing a role in a potential Farage government.
The next day, Farage claimed he had contacted Lowe but received no response. Lowe then refuted this and accused Farage of “outright lying about our private conversations” — even sharing a supposed WhatsApp message from the Reform UK leader.
Farage told Times Radio these claims were “extraordinary” and described Lowe as “not a very easy person to deal with.” Yet he expressed a willingness to “put past differences aside in the interest of getting some sort of unity” … hinting that the two might eventually come to an agreement.
What does this mean for the Tories?
There’s an additional layer of intrigue to this dispute as well.
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