Talk host speculates that Restore is a Tory psy-op

In the Makerfield by-election, we reported that there are many suspicious and anonymous accounts lining up behind Reform UK and Restore Britain. Now, Talk host Alex Phillips has accused the latter party of benefitting from a “sophisticated Bot operation”:

Who does it ultimately serve when Restore attacks Reform, losing them support?

In the event Reform drop ~5-7% in a General Election, due to Restore, they'd be forced into a coalition with the Tories to stop a socialist coalition

Last year Cyabra ran a report into Lowe's sudden…

— Alex Phillips (@ThatAlexWoman) May 27, 2026

Phillips also suggested Restore leader Rupert Lowe may be part of a Tory psy-op to prevent Reform UK forming a majority government.

Restore: scum like it bot

Ex-Reform MP Lowe founded Restore Britain earlier this year. As we’ve reported:

Reform UK is a party that exists because the Conservatives weren’t right-wing enough. Restore Britain, meanwhile, is a party that exists because Reform UK weren’t right-wing enough.

In terms of the mainstream media, Restore UK mostly flew under the radar until the Makerfield by-election. As it turned out, the party had built up a substantial following online, and this is translating into actual polling – polling which has gotten Reform rattled:

The Times have just released a new poll for the Makerfield by-election by Survation.

Robert Kenyon is the only candidate who can stop Andy Burnham.

This is a two horse race – nobody else comes close. pic.twitter.com/zZ75PasBdt

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 23, 2026

Oh, and it could be higher than this too:

So there is panic internally in Reform as I stated earlier being the reason for the Restore attacks and that there had to be internal polling issues

They are admitting to a Restore tally of around 18% and themselves being around 8% behind Labour pic.twitter.com/QX3QKuFK0b

— dave lawrence 🐟🐟🐠 (@dave43law) May 25, 2026

In her post, Phillips said:

Who does it ultimately serve when Restore attacks Reform, losing them support?

In the event Reform drop ~5-7% in a General Election, due to Restore, they’d be forced into a coalition with the Tories to stop a socialist coalition

You could ask who it benefited when Reform UK ran in 2024, taking votes away from the Tories and ensuring a greater Labour victory. Phillips doesn’t ask this, of course, because that wouldn’t benefit her argument.

Phillips also noted:

Last year Cyabra ran a report into Lowe’s sudden social media boost.

You don’t become an overnight sensation online with only 8% name recognition

The report revealed a sophisticated Bot operation…

Who has the money and motive to do such a thing?

Who indeed?

Tory tactics

Phillips continued:

Around the same time Rupert and I had a long phone call. He told me the Tories were desperately courting him. Or seemingly him, them

This was not a secret. Read for yourself. It suggests he will ‘work for’ the Tories

Phillips also said:

Now, back in 2019, when we were MEPs and Boris called the election, Lowe collaborated on a list with the Tories called ‘Men And Measures’ with Dougie Smith. It was a list promising peerages, knighthoods and positions to Brexit Party candidates to stand down. My colleague Robert Rowland blew the whistle to me

And:

Lowe became the first Brexit Party candidate to step down in Dudley North just before nominations closed and Farage was due to hold a big event there

Phillips provided links to back up these points. She didn’t have hard evidence for the following, though, presenting it as a ‘suspicion’:

I know some Restore fanatics are fooled into thinking Reform is ‘controlled opposition’. I suspect the opposite is true

Questions

Phillips did provide some circumstantial evidence for her accusation, including:

Does Lowe criticise the Tories? Or just attack Reform?

Is Restore standing in Aberdeen South where Tories are putting in loads of resources? Or just Makerfield, where they only target Reform voters?

How come Tories are silent on extreme elements of Restore – the only party to be so?

To be fair, there are possible explanations here. Chief among them is that Restore isn’t trying to win over Tory voters; it’s trying to win Reform voters. At this point, the hard-right has moved on to Farage’s party, and Lowe’s group is more hard-right again. As such, Lowe probably isn’t going to win over the centre-right Britons who’ve stuck with Badenoch’s Tories.

The fact that the Tories aren’t attacking Restore makes sense whether they’re in cahoots with Lowe or not. Much as Lowe is unlikely to steal voters away from the Tories, Badenoch is unlikely to win back voters from him. Also, why would the Tories attack Restore when the party is doing such a good job diminishing their primary rival, Nigel Farage?

At the same time, we absolutely wouldn’t be surprised to discover Lowe is in bed with the Tories. These right-wingers are all in it for themselves, and that will be beyond obvious should Lowe or Farage enter into government.

Featured image via Chris J Ratcliffe (Getty Images) / Alishia Abodunde (Getty Images) / Alishia Abodunde (Getty Images)