{"id":47667,"date":"2026-05-24T20:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T20:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/47667\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T20:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T20:14:28","slug":"farage-musk-risks-splitting-right-in-burnham-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/47667\/","title":{"rendered":"Farage: Musk risks splitting Right in Burnham by-election"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nigel Farage has warned Elon Musk that he is playing into the hands of Labour by backing Reform\u2019s Right-wing rivals in the Makerfield by-election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Reform leader accused the billionaire Tesla boss of trying to divide the Right in the UK by sharing support for MP Rupert Lowe\u2019s Restore Britain party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The first poll of the by-election campaign has shown Reform on 40 per cent just behind <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2026\/05\/22\/burnhams-cabinet-is-already-taking-shape\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Labour\u2019s Andy Burnham;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Labour\u2019s Andy Burnham&quot;}\">Labour\u2019s Andy Burnham<\/a> on 43 per cent in a knife-edge battle for the seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In third place, however, was Restore Britain on 7 per cent, potentially scooping up votes that could have helped to secure the constituency for Reform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Posting on his social media platform X on Sunday, Mr Musk shared a tweet from Mr Lowe about the by-election with the comment: \u201cRestore Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Farage said Mr Burnham would be \u201cdelighted\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He said: \u201cElon Musk has decided he will try to split the Right of British politics as best he can. This is supporting a party that\u2019s one man with a social media account. Quite what he\u2019s trying to achieve, I have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Division on the Right could harm Reform\u2019s prospects of victory and increase the chances of handing the seat to Mr Burnham, who is widely expected to mount a challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party and the keys to Downing Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The intervention by Mr Musk, who previously supported Mr Farage, is also likely to intensify the bitter rivalry between Mr Lowe and Mr Farage after their highly publicised falling out more than a year ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Lowe, then a Reform MP, was suspended last March after describing Reform UK under Mr Farage as a \u201cprotest party led by the Messiah\u201d. He left Reform to then set up his own party on the Right of British politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In the post on X shared by Mr Musk, Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, claimed that Restore Britain was \u201cunder brutal assault\u201d by the establishment who \u201cwant us gone\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThey\u2019ve already tried to put me in prison. It will all keep coming and coming. It is going to get a lot worse, the more support we gain. The establishment is getting very nasty with us. Good. It shows we are making progress,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Rupert Lowe\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"600\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/88822e5df28eae3257d09a6d470d8f9f.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Rupert Lowe has said his Restore Britain party is \u2018under brutal assault\u2019 &#8211; Jason Bye<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Lowe\u2019s \u201csubsidiary\u201d party Great Yarmouth First won all nine seats it stood for on Norfolk county council this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Responding to Mr Musk\u2019s intervention, Mr Lowe said: \u201cElon Musk backing Restore Britain sends a clear message that real change is possible and the establishment is losing control. <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2026\/05\/22\/makerfield-by-election-everything-you-need-to-know\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Makerfield will show Britain the way;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Makerfield will show Britain the way&quot;}\">Makerfield will show Britain the way<\/a>. We\u2019re not here to patch up a broken system, we are here to restore our country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Rebecca Shepherd, a businesswoman who is standing for Restore Britain in the by-election, said: \u201cMakerfield has been taken for granted for decades. People here are smart, they know when they\u2019re being managed rather than represented.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cElon Musk backing Restore Britain tells you something: the old assumptions about British politics are finished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Farage sought to shore up Reform\u2019s support by indicating that only his party and its candidate, <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2026\/05\/19\/the-plumber-who-stands-between-burnham-and-no-10\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Robert Kenyon, could beat Labour and Mr Burnham;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Robert Kenyon, could beat Labour and Mr Burnham&quot;}\">Robert Kenyon, could beat Labour and Mr Burnham<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cRobert Kenyon is the only candidate who can stop Andy Burnham. This is a two-horse race \u2013 nobody else comes close,\u201d said the Reform leader.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Robert Kenyon and Nigel Farage\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"602\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ce7dc72e5d42ff27e167b5e27c6205ed.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nigel Farage has said the Makerfield by-election is a \u2018two-horse race\u2019 and only Robert Kenyon can stop Andy Burnham<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Musk backed Restore Britain when it was launched last year by Mr Lowe, stating on X: \u201cIt will win. It must win. To Save Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The owner of SpaceX has been prolific in his criticism of Labour on his X platform, claiming \u201ccivil war is inevitable\u201d weeks into Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s election victory in July 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He also claimed Britain was a \u201ctyrannical police state\u201d, branded Sir Keir \u201ctwo-tier Keir\u201d over the policing of far-Right protests and warned that the UK was going \u201cfull Stalin\u201d by tweaking inheritance tax rules for farmers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Musk has also called for the Prime Minister to be imprisoned over the state\u2019s response to child sexual exploitation and called <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2025\/01\/02\/elon-musk-jess-phillips-oldham-council-grooming-inquiry\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Jess Phillips, the former safeguarding minister;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Jess Phillips, the former safeguarding minister&quot;}\">Jess Phillips, the former safeguarding minister<\/a>, a \u201crape genocide apologist\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, Mr Musk was forced into retreat by Sir Keir and his ministers after a huge backlash when his AI chatbot Grok was exposed for allowing degrading deepfake imagery to flood his social network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The billionaire was forced to block the chatbot\u2019s ability to generate non-consensual sexualised images of real people and share them on X in countries where it was illegal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/customer\/subscription\/store\/us\/?ICID=yahoo_article\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nigel Farage has warned Elon Musk that he is playing into the hands of Labour by backing Reform\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[7786,13,1361,6660,23912,95,1153,5524],"class_list":["post-47667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-andy-burnham","tag-britain","tag-elon-musk","tag-mr-lowe","tag-mr-musk","tag-nigel-farage","tag-restore-britain","tag-rupert-lowe"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116631389019941831","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}