Nigel Farage sends direct message to Restore Britain voters after 'disappointing' Reform UK defeat

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who is plotting to topple Sir Keir Starmer, secured a staggering 24,927 votes.

However, Restore Britain's Rebecca Shepherd also retained her deposit, with Rupert Lowe's party hoovering up 3,111 votes in its first parliamentary by-election outing.

In a short video released on social media, Mr Farage sent a direct message to voters now backing Restore Britain.

The Reform UK leader said: "I thought we'd get 18,000 votes, we got just shy of 16,000.

"So, I am disappointed by that, no question about it.

"But I would say this: there are a couple of thousand voters there who would normally have gone out and voted Reform who voted Restore, and I would say directly to them, what do you want?

"We are the challenger party to the left in this country, and I would urge you to think again, I really, really would."

As counting took place in Makerfield overnight, Mr Lowe flatly rejected concerns about vote-splitting on the right.

The Great Yarmouth MP, who was booted out of Reform UK after falling out with Mr Farage in March 2025, told GB News: "Votes do not belong to anybody.

"They don't belong to Andy Burnham, they don't belong to me, they don't belong to Reform."

Mr Lowe added: "I don't think it makes any practical difference whether we have Andy Burnham in No10, whether we have Keir Starmer remaining, whether we have Wes Streeting, whether we have Al Carns, whoever else decides to stand."

Despite fears about splitting the anti-Labour vote, Reform UK would have fallen short of stopping Mr Burnham even if all Restore Britain supporters backed Mr Kenyon.

Speaking about Mr Burnham's popularity, Mr Farage admitted: “The Makerfield by-election was a dramatic, emphatic win for Andy Burnham with a vote share that nobody could quite see coming.

"In many ways, he’s a popular local mayor, just as Boris Johnson was a very popular mayor in London just a few years ago.

“What really happened here is it was vote Burnham, get Starmer out, which of course was our campaign message leading up to the locals on May 7."

Mr Farage also addressed Reform UK's performance in the Aberdeen South and Arbroath & Broughty Ferry by-elections.

Reform UK secured distant third-place finishes in both seats north of the border, with Kemi Badenoch picking up her first electoral scalp since becoming Tory leader by taking Aberdeen South.

Mr Farage said: "I think what we will see now is the Conservatives have pockets of strength around the country.

"But in the North of England, Midlands, South Wales, and many other areas, the Conservative vote now averages in by-election after by-election around about two per cent. So, Reform is still the big national party on the centre-right."

However, a top pollster has described last night's by-election results as Reform UK's "worst night since the general election".

Addressing the threat posed by Mr Lowe's party, More in Common's Luke Tryl said: "Even though the margin between Labour and Reform was bigger than the Restore vote, Restore still got seven per cent.

"If that were replicated across the country, that would make it very difficult for Reform to get a majority."