Readers can vote in our poll on whether Rupert Lowe’s party should pull out of the race to avoid splitting the right-wing vote.
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe (Image: Getty)
Reform UK‘s bid to win the Makerfield by-election could be derailed by Rupert Lowe‘s Restore Britain. New polling puts Labour in the lead with 43% in the crunch ballot as Andy Burnham eyes a return to Westminster to challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
The survey shows that Nigel Farage‘s party is just three points behind on 40%. But Restore Britain is third with 7% which could prove to be an obstacle to Reform’s chances. The Lib Dems are on 4%, the Greens 3% and the Tories 2%, according to the Survation poll of 396 voters carried out earlier this month.
Britain’s top pollster said that Restore Britain standing in the contest is “good news” for Labour and Mr Burnham – but could hurt Reform.
Professor Sir John Curtice told The Telegraph: “The place is on an absolute knife-edge, so far as what is sometimes thought as being the Right-wing bloc and the Left-wing bloc. Reform has managed, evidently, from looking at the transfer numbers, to squeeze the Tory vote.
“But Restore Britain is intervening and making life much more difficult for Reform. On the one hand, so far as Burnham is concerned, the intervention of Restore Britain is definitely good news.
“On the other hand, it also shows that if Reform are able to squeeze this Restore vote – because they’ve lost one in eight of their 2024 voters to Restore – then, even if this poll is accurate, Reform could still overtake Burnham.”
Mr Farage has insisted that next month’s by-election is a “two-horse race” between Reform and Labour.
He said: “Robert Kenyon is the only candidate who can stop Andy Burnham. This is a two-horse race – nobody else comes close.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch declared she would do “no deals” with Reform after calls for a pact between the two parties.
Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, has been a fierce critic of Reform after being expelled from the party last year in an acrimonious row.
It comes as Mr Burham, the Greater Manchester Mayor, is eyeing a return to Parliament in order to challenge Sir Keir Starmer‘s leadership in the wake of Labour’s local election drubbing earlier this month.