Right-Wing Media Watch – Mail on Sunday goes all out to protect Farage by squeezing the Restore vote

Seemingly worried by the prospect of Restore Britain damaging Reform UK’s chances in the Makerfield by-election by splitting the right-wing vote, and potentially handing victory to Labour’s Andy Burnham, the Mail on Sunday launched what looked very much like a political intervention against Rupert Lowe’s insurgent party.

Restore Britain is not merely presenting itself as an alternative to Reform UK. It’s positioning itself as a direct challenge to Nigel Farage’s dominance of the populist right. And that appears to have ruffled feathers at the Mail.

“Restore activists at ‘white supremacy summit’” splashed the front-page last Sunday.

“On eve of vital by-election, the evidence that anyone who plans to vote for Rupert Lowe’s divisive party is making a grave mistake.”

The article reported that activists campaigning for Restore Britain had attended a gathering of white supremacists alongside neo-Nazis. According to the Mail on Sunday, supporters canvassing in the knife-edge Makerfield contest were among those present at an event advocating a white-only Europe.

The summit in question was the Remigration Summit in Portugal, organised by Austrian activist Martin Sellner, who is banned from entering the UK. As the Mail itself explained, “remigration” is a far-right concept centred on the mass deportation of non-white populations from Europe. The newspaper further noted that the ideology emerged from the so-called “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which alleges that global elites, often portrayed in antisemitic terms as Jews, are deliberately replacing white populations through immigration.

So, has the Mail on Sunday suddenly developed a conscience about the far right and swung left?

One suspects not.

Further down the same article, the newspaper gave prominent coverage to Nigel Farage’s plea for right-wing voters to unite behind Reform UK:

“I understand voters want radical change – I do too,” said the Reform UK leader.

‘Now is the time to come together and stop Andy Burnham and Labour, this is our only opportunity. Reform is the only party promising wholesale change from the establishment status quo that can win.’

And let’s not forget, the newspaper’s relationship with Reform UK isn’t entirely detached. In December, Viscountess Rothermere, Claudia Harmsworth, wife of Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere, donated £50,000 to Reform UK. As LFF noted out at the time, the donation led to some speculation as to who the Daily Mail could back at the next election.

Last Sunday’s front page inevitably revived discussion of the newspaper’s own historical record. The Daily Mail was founded in 1896 by Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, and his brother Alfred.  The Harmsworth family has a long history of supporting right-wing political parties, including the fascists in the 1930s.

Most notoriously, in January 1934, the newspaper published Viscount Rothermere’s infamous article backing Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists under the headline “Hurrah for the Blackshirts.”

Critics were quick to point out the awkwardness of a newspaper with that history positioning itself as a guardian against far-right extremism.

And readers were unconvinced by the paper’s sudden concern. One Reddit user commented:

“Rich from the newspaper that supported Sir Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts back in the 30s.”