๐จI usually agree with Alex, but if she wants to lay some blame here she should start with Nigel Farage who unceremoniously ousted his most popular MP, Rupert Lowe.
What did they expect the man to do after that โ crawl into a hole, licking his wounds until kingdom come?
That single action by Farage led to Restore Britain and the rebirth of Rupert Lowe.
Less hubris and more humility on the part of Farage could have gone a long way in making Reform the only choice on the right, but he chose hubris and ultimately itโs that choice which splits the vote.
Andy Burnham won an overwhelming victory.
It is only fair to recognise that and congratulate him and his team.
An impressive campaign, particularly their effort on the ground yesterday in Makerfield which was vast.
Fair enough.
Impressed by how not a single ounce of dirt came out against Rebecca Shepard. Seriously impressive these days. They had to result in attacking @angloid0 and @Steve_Laws_ just to get their fix in. But vote splitting argument is over. Many branchโs a lot more set up to tackle a by election. All the patriots who gave their time should be proud of 3k votes for a new party. You can see how desperate Reform are to say itโs over now when itโs only just begun.
We have every right to celebrate today!
A four month old party achieving 3rd place and 7% of the vote in a parliamentary by-election is a sensational victory.
Huge well done to every single person involved.
The momentum is real. #RestoreBritain ๐ฌ๐ง
The BBC finally interviewed Rupert Lowe.
Did they ask him about the rape gang inquiry?
Of course not, they moaned about me to him.
He put them in their place live on air.
โIโm not expressing a view [โฆ] Iโm asking the questionsโ says the reporter. Itโs plain to anyone who has eyes to see and ears to hear that the framing of the questions is in itself the expression of the view and the funnelling of how they want the audience to perceive the situation. The media take us for fools!
One thing was made very clear yesterday.
Reform UK are in rapid decline & Restore Britain are on the way up.
0 out of 3 by-elections for Reform yesterday, they simply just dont have what it takes.
If you want to fix this nation now is the time to unite under Restore Britain & Rupert Lowe ๐ฌ๐ง๐ซก
My observations on the Makerfield by-election:
๐ Restore beat the Tories, the Lib-Dems and the Greens.
๐ The Reform ground team was much smaller than Restore's, so that shows how much Reform are propped up by the media.
๐ 7% for a first time effort in the midst of a smear campaign is a good result.
๐ Who in their right mind is voting Labour!!!
Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election with 55 per cent of the vote. But treating Makerfield as a national barometer is a mistake: many voted Labour to get rid of Keir Starmer.
Reform underperformed, losing 16 per cent of their vote share from the local elections and another winnable by-election.
The party ran a purely negative campaign about blocking Burnham, while their candidate, Robert Kenyon, was crucified by the media for crude jokes on rugby forums.
Restore came in third with seven per cent, in line with polling. Some are celebrating, given it's their first by-election. But the party's army of canvassers could have delivered a better result if they had a stronger candidate.
Nevertheless, Reform can't blame Restore for "splitting the vote", because both combined got less than Burnham.
Instead, Reform needs to start asking why they are topping national polls but losing elections, and Restore must perform better next time if they want to force Reform to the right, or present themselves as a viable alternative.
Now that the election is over, it would be a good time for introspection and an end to enmity.
Some supporters resorted to ad hominem attacks, dishonesty, and dirty tricks during the campaign. Don't sacrifice your integrity and friendships for political team-sports.
Well done @RestoreBritain to take on a Labour stronghold area and come out at that percent is insane!
We are a 4 month old party and we are changing things and fast!
Onwards and Upwards ๐ฌ๐ง๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
This will be an interesting time for our country. And again Iโm proud of restore for even getting that many votes, incredibly well to poll third for a brand new party.