Reform deal with Restore is off, insiders say

Reform UK has said a pact with Restore Britain is off after Rupert Lowe refused to sack the party’s controversial co-founder, Charlie Downes. Senior sources in Nigel Farage’s party told The i Paper that Lowe’s decision to retain Downes – who has been accused of spreading an antisemitic trope – had “scuppered” talks and a deal is consequently “not going to happen”. The rebuff comes as officials in the two parties of the right continue to snipe at each other following the surprise public offer of a pact from Restore founder Lowe. Shorts He posted an online video message addressed to Farage in which he suggested the two men should “put our differences aside” and “co-operate for the good of the country”. Lowe had previously been a Reform MP but was kicked out by Farage in 2025 following bullying allegations which he continues to deny. At the start of this year, he launched Restore as a hard-right rival to Reform. His fledgling party has already proved a thorn in Reform’s side, taking a creditable 7 per cent of the vote in the Makerfield by-election in June that saw Andy Burnham returned to Parliament ‘We can see a deal is not going to happen’ On Monday, Farage said his price for talking to Lowe would be for the Restore leader to remove Downes from his “inner circle”. “There are one or two people in the orbit of the upper echelons of that party who, if I sat down and talked to, I think our members and our voters would be utterly shocked,” he said. Downes, who co-founded Restore and works as its campaigns director, has generated huge controversy with comments which have been labelled ethnonationalist. In recent days he has been criticised by Jewish groups for implying online that Farage had been “bought” by Jewish supporters, and he has also said that Muslims are “less British” than Christians. Despite the criticism and Farage’s ultimatum, Lowe has stuck by the 25-year-old Downes. Asked about him on Tuesday, Lowe directed The i Paper to a post on X from the previous day in which he said that “putting a young Christian man out of work, just as he is looking to build his life and start a family” is “simply not how I operate”. A senior Reform source told The i Paper: “We can see a deal is not going to happen, because now Rupert Lowe’s said no.” ‘They’re not going to replace Reform’ The source said for talks to happen, Downes would have to be kicked out of Restore’s membership, rather than just demoted as a Lowe adviser. “Nigel doesn’t want these kind of people,” they said. A senior Reform insider agreed that Lowe’s refusal to wash his hands of his protege had “probably scuppered” a deal, with Farage “appalled at Downes’ comments”. The insider claimed that Lowe had been forced into making the offer in the first place because he had realised Restore had reached its electoral ceiling with the 9 per cent it achieved in the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election. “They’ll never get more than a few percentage points, they’ll nibble away at Reform but they’re not going to replace Reform. I think that’s probably why he made the offer.” Opinions remain divided on what was behind Lowe’s approach. Some people in Reform think that he wanted to wrongfoot Farage and create divisions in his party. It is possible the spat could benefit Farage long term by allowing him to display a moderation that may appeal to former Tory voters fearful of the hard right. It comes as Farage seeks to shore up his authority, and standing in the country, following weeks of scrutiny on his party’s and his personal financing. He faces a by-election in Clacton on Thursday which he called in order to put the claims to bed – but which has misfired as no other major party is standing. This has left Farage effectively campaigning against the satiricial candidate Count Binface. Restore is also boycotting the by-election. ‘There’s factional warring going on’ However, Restore insiders insist that an arrangement can still be reached, with one senior party source telling The i Paper that they believed Reform’s home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, is among those supportive of an alliance. A senior Restore source said: “We focus on policy, they seem to be interested in personality.” The source named Yusuf as one of those of who is “quite keen” for an alliance. They said: “From what I understand, they’re having internal, factional fighting on it with Zia on one side and the [former] Tories on the other. And Farage is somewhere in the middle. “There’s this factional warring going on. Let’s see what comes out of it.” However, Yusuf told The i Paper that he is not pushing for a pact. “I deny that,” he said. “Pacts and coalitions won’t save Britain. Reform is the only party of the right with a chance of a majority.” He went on: “I have huge respect for Restore voters, who are patriots that want secure borders and the mass deportation of illegal migrants. These will be my highest priority as home secretary. Reform will work hard to earn their votes so we have the majority we need to actually deliver it.” Earlier on Tuesday, Farage slapped down Yusuf for a social media post in which he branded the former Conservative defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace a “traitor”. Farage told The Sun: “That’s too strong a word. I shall give him a ticking off.” Some Reformers think that Yusuf’s use of social media is damaging the party. As well as labelling Wallace and various other politicians traitors, Yusuf has also publicly criticised Reform politicians, including the party’s Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick. The Reform insider accused Yusuf of being a “loose cannon”. “He does say things that don’t look particularly sensible.” The insider said that while Yusuf communicates “extremely well”, he needed to stop “shooting from the hip”. “He would do very well in Parliament provided he could be prevailed upon to think about what he’s going to say before he actually says it,” they added. The i Paper approached Downes for comment. On X, he has said that his campaigning for “demographic security and sovereignty for the native British people” has “caused the establishment media to turn its guns on me and Restore Britain because the objective of their ideology is to dispossess the British of their homeland.”