Rupert Lowe, head of Restore Britain, has indicated he will not stop far-right figure Tommy Robinson from joining his party.. This development coincides with reports of Restore activists attending a white supremacist gathering and a fractured right-wing vote in the Makerfield by-election.

The £20 membership door for Tommy Robinson

Rupert Lowe has explicitly stated that he will not block Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson,from joining Restore Britain. According to the Sunday Times , Lowe remarked that if Robinson wishes to pay the £20 membership fee and sign up, it is a personal decision rather than a party matter. Lowe further noted that he does not audit the party's membership, a practice he claims is standard across political organizations.

Beyond the administrative openness, Rupert Lowe offered ideological validation to the activist. Lowe told the Sunday Times that he gives credit to Yaxley-Lennon for being an "early adopter" regarding the issue of rape gangs. This alignment marks a sharp departure from the strategy of other right-wing leaders who view Yaxley-Lennon as a liability to mainstream electoral viability.

The Reform UK split and the battle for Makerfield

The tension between Restore Britain and Reform UK is playing out in the high-stakes Makerfield by-election. Nigel Farage has long considered Stephen Yaxley-Lennon unacceptable and has barred him from Reform UK, but the rivalry between Farage and Rupert Lowe has created a secondary fissure. As reported by the Mail on Sunday, polls suggest that support for Restore Britain could be significant enough to prevent Reform UK from seizing the seat, potentially handing victory to the Labour Party.

This electoal friction is rooted in a personal and political fallout; Rupert Lowe was elected as a Reform MP in the 2024 general election before leaving to establish Restore Britain. While Nigel Farage has urged right-wing voters to unite to stop Andy Burnham from returning to the Commons and potentially pushing the Labour Party further left, Rupert Lowe has dismissed the importance of Burnham's individual victory, arguing that the broader Labour Party remains incompetent regardless of who holds the seat.

The Portugal Remigration Summit and the 'Great Replacement' link

The ideological boundaries of Restore Britain are under scrutiny following reports that some of its canvassers in Makerfield attended an extremist "Remigration Summit" in Portugal. As the Mail on Sunday reported, this summit brought together white supremacists and neo-Nazis to discuss "remigration," a far-right concept involving the mass deportation of non-white populations. This concept is fundamentally linked to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that global elites are orchestrating the replacement of white populations with immigrants.

This connection to organized white supreacy places Restore Britain in a precarious position compared to the broader populist movement . While a Restore Britain spokesman dismissed these revelations as a "hit piece" and claimed the summit was "totally irrelevant," the presence of party canvassers at such an event suggests a permeability between Lowe's political project and explicitly racialist ideologies.

Which Restore canvassers joined the white supremacist summit?

Despite the gravity of the reports, several critical details remain unverified. It is currently unclear exactly how many Restore Britain members attended the Portugal summit or if these individuals hold leadership roles within the party's Makerfield campaign. Furthermore, while Rupert Lowe has expressed openness to Tommy Robinson's membership, the party has not confirmed whether Yaxley-Lennon is already a registered member.

The source reporting primarily relies on the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Times, with Restore Britain offering only a brief denial.. There has been no detailed accounting from the party regarding the vetting process for its volunteers, leaving a gap in understanding how many extremists have successfully integrated into the Restore Britain infrastructure.