Farage would suffer polling hit if he did a deal with Restore, analysis shows

Nigel Farage finds himself stuck either way when it comes to Restore Britain, after new polling analysis revealed that he suffers a polling hit even if he does a deal with Rupert Lowe’s far-right outfit.

In recent months, it’s become clear to Reform UK that they have a Restore problem due to voter fragmentation on the right and Farage losing support to the far-right party.

There has been talk recently that both Farage and Lowe are considering a formal pact, despite the Reform leader having very public spat with Lowe after booting him out of his party.

However, polling analysis carried out by More in Common which has been shared with Politico, has revealed that any deal with Restore would be “more likely to damage than bolster Reform’s fragile voter coalition.”

Luke Tryl, U.K. director of More in Common, said: “Some Reform voters are open to Lowe’s messages, but they risk deterring the wider pool of voters that Reform would need to win an election. 

“It seems that a pact with Restore would cross too many lines for Reform’s wavering voters: this group wants to see Farage condemn racist views, retain a distance with figures on the hard-right like Tommy Robinson, and avoid ethnonationalist positions.”

The poll, carried out between  Aug. 7 and Aug. 10 found that a Farage tie-up with Restore would particularly put off Tory voters considering voting Reform. Among 2024 Tory voters who are now considering voting Reform, support drops from 45 percent open to Reform to 39 percent should there be a deal with Restore.

Politico reports: “Some Reform voters are also put off by the prospect of a Restore pact. The poll suggests 93 percent of voters who backed Farage at the last general election would do so again without a Restore pact, but the figure fell to 83 percent with the prospect of a Lowe team-up.

“Overall, the polling suggests that a Restore-pact would reduce those willing to consider voting Reform from 32 percent to 30 percent.”