Britain’s two main Islamophobic political parties – Reform UK and Restore Britain – could be heading towards some form of electoral pact after Nigel Farage revealed that he has contacted Rupert Lowe following a public appeal to unite Britain’s anti-Islam, anti-immigration right.
The development comes just months after Lowe’s acrimonious split from Reform UK over the party’s leadership and direction, which escalated when Reform suspended him over allegations of bullying and misconduct that Lowe has consistently denied.
Speaking earlier today, Farage confirmed that he had reached out to Lowe after the latter published a 12-minute video calling for discussions between the two parties.
“I did actually reach out yesterday to him,” Farage said. “I did say, ‘Look, should we have a call?’ I haven’t heard back yet.”
Despite the bitter split between the two men, Farage suggested he was prepared to put past disagreements aside.
“I would do whatever I could for us to have a sane, centre-right alliance that beat Labour at the next general election,” he said.
However, he ruled out abandoning existing political allies as a condition of any agreement.
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‘Islamification of Britain’
Lowe’s appeal to Farage was framed around what he described as five principles needed to “restore Britain.” But alongside calls for mass deportations and demographic change, his speech also contained some of the most explicitly anti-Islam proposals yet put forward by a British political party.
Referring to what he called the “Islamification of Britain,” Lowe declared that Restore Britain was committed to “reversing the Islamification of Britain. And that will not change.”
He claimed: “The level of influence that Islam is exerting, even now, on our Christian way of life, is unacceptable.”
Lowe went on to insist that any future agreement with Reform UK would have to include policies banning “halal and kosher slaughter, the burqa, cousin marriage, mass-dominating public Islamic prayer, sharia courts, and any other barbaric foreign practices that have no place in our high-trust society.”
He added: “Britain is a Christian country, and we must ensure it remains that way. If we cannot agree on that, then there is simply no way forward.”
Elsewhere in the speech, Lowe argued that ending illegal migration was insufficient, saying that “millions must go,” while calling for what he described as the most comprehensive deportation programme ever proposed in British politics.
He also stated that “every illegal migrant must be deported,” including “women and children,” and proposed that legal migrants who cannot speak English, refuse to work, live in social housing or “hate our way of life” should also be removed from Britain.
A ‘divided right’
Farage acknowledged that a divided right could damage Reform UK’s electoral prospects, particularly if Restore Britain stands candidates across the country.
“You could see a situation where Restore, without the hope of winning anything outside Great Yarmouth… could do us great harm,” he said.
He added that he remained open to discussions but questioned whether Lowe’s proposal represented a genuine attempt at cooperation.
“If it was a genuine deal, it came in a very unusual way. I have responded to it with an open mind… but I’m certainly not going to be ditching people that I view to be allies.”
An electoral pact could prove significant for Britain’s political right. Reform UK remains one of the country’s strongest political parties in national polling, with most surveys placing it in the mid-20s and among the leading contenders at the next general election.
Restore Britain, which is even more extreme than Reform UK, is a much smaller force, but recent polling has put the new party on around 3-4% nationally, with much of its support appearing to come from former Reform UK voters.
Under Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system, a split on the populist right could cost Reform UK seats if Restore Britain fields candidates against it in key constituencies.
Conversely, any electoral understanding between the two parties could reduce vote-splitting and strengthen the electoral prospects of the British far right, although there is no guarantee that all Restore Britain supporters would transfer their votes to Reform UK, or vice versa.
