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Reform and Restore Go To War in Makerfield
Previous video on why Andy Burnham can't save the Labour Party: https://youtu.be/ZfEPTNxVYJM
Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe are battling to stop Andy Burnham from winning the Makerfield by-election. And it's getting ugly.
Reform UK are standing plumber, ex-army reservist, and councillor Robert Kenyon against Restore Britain's local businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd.
Kenyon is a strong candidate. He came second in the 2024 general election, with 32 percent of the vote. The press are trying to cancel him for crude humour in old social media posts, but Reform have (mostly) stood by their man for once.
Whereas Shepherd is an unknown quantity, with little public profile, but far more campaigners knocking on doors in the constituency.
Which is why Restore have disputed a Times / Survation poll with a small sample size, which put Reform on 40 percent, three points behind Labour's Andy Burnham, and Restore Britain on 7 percent.
Restore's canvassing figures put them on 24.6 percent. Reform's internal polling also has Restore on higher than 7 percent.
Hence, why Reform's senior figures, supporters, and media surrogates manned battle stations over the last few days. Their new slogan is "Vote Restore, get Burnham."
Hit pieces on Restore were published by GB News, Jewish News, Daily Mail, Spiked, the Telegraph, and the Times within hours of each other. DMs were leaked. Rumours circulated, then retracted. The dirty tricks are disappointing, and offputting to supporters who sympathise with both parties.
Some Reform supporters have accused Restore of being simultaneously irrelevant, polling at 1 percent, and of splitting the vote and gifting the election to Andy Burnham; of being racist and providing no distinct policy offering than Reform; of being "useful idiots" and a Trojan Horse for the Tories.
But these attacks aren't convincing.
The same Conservative MPs, who have since defected to Reform, accused Farage of vote splitting in 2024.
Articles criticising Restore as too extreme highlight the differences between the parties on immigration policy.
As Dan Hodges suggests, the attempt to sabotage Restore's chances has produced a Streisand Effect, where more Reform voters are aware of Restore than before.
Have Reform damaged Kenyon's chances? Or will Restore Britain's support evaporate, and amount to nothing more than pressure placed on Reform?
Watch this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YUzpzrLGiGU
Support my work on Substack: https://connortomlinson.substack.com/
Follow me on X: https://x.com/Con_Tomlinson
Support my work:
- https://buymeacoffee.com/connortomlinson
- paypal.com/paypalme/ConnorJTomlinson
- https://connortomlinson.locals.com/
Listen to Tomlinson Talks on podcast platforms:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2lVAFqUZQQTQW8XiNhODP0
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tomlinson-talks/id1811957060
Amazon Music / Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/be9537ec-b746-4a5c-9d79-40f8d0a87f19
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By Connor TomlinsonPrevious video on why Andy Burnham can't save the Labour Party: https://youtu.be/ZfEPTNxVYJM
Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe are battling to stop Andy Burnham from winning the Makerfield by-election. And it's getting ugly.
Reform UK are standing plumber, ex-army reservist, and councillor Robert Kenyon against Restore Britain's local businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd.
Kenyon is a strong candidate. He came second in the 2024 general election, with 32 percent of the vote. The press are trying to cancel him for crude humour in old social media posts, but Reform have (mostly) stood by their man for once.
Whereas Shepherd is an unknown quantity, with little public profile, but far more campaigners knocking on doors in the constituency.
Which is why Restore have disputed a Times / Survation poll with a small sample size, which put Reform on 40 percent, three points behind Labour's Andy Burnham, and Restore Britain on 7 percent.
Restore's canvassing figures put them on 24.6 percent. Reform's internal polling also has Restore on higher than 7 percent.
Hence, why Reform's senior figures, supporters, and media surrogates manned battle stations over the last few days. Their new slogan is "Vote Restore, get Burnham."
Hit pieces on Restore were published by GB News, Jewish News, Daily Mail, Spiked, the Telegraph, and the Times within hours of each other. DMs were leaked. Rumours circulated, then retracted. The dirty tricks are disappointing, and offputting to supporters who sympathise with both parties.
Some Reform supporters have accused Restore of being simultaneously irrelevant, polling at 1 percent, and of splitting the vote and gifting the election to Andy Burnham; of being racist and providing no distinct policy offering than Reform; of being "useful idiots" and a Trojan Horse for the Tories.
But these attacks aren't convincing.
The same Conservative MPs, who have since defected to Reform, accused Farage of vote splitting in 2024.
Articles criticising Restore as too extreme highlight the differences between the parties on immigration policy.
As Dan Hodges suggests, the attempt to sabotage Restore's chances has produced a Streisand Effect, where more Reform voters are aware of Restore than before.
Have Reform damaged Kenyon's chances? Or will Restore Britain's support evaporate, and amount to nothing more than pressure placed on Reform?
Watch this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YUzpzrLGiGU
Support my work on Substack: https://connortomlinson.substack.com/
Follow me on X: https://x.com/Con_Tomlinson
Support my work:
- https://buymeacoffee.com/connortomlinson
- paypal.com/paypalme/ConnorJTomlinson
- https://connortomlinson.locals.com/
Listen to Tomlinson Talks on podcast platforms:
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2lVAFqUZQQTQW8XiNhODP0
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/tomlinson-talks/id1811957060
Amazon Music / Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/be9537ec-b746-4a5c-9d79-40f8d0a87f19