Elon Musk backs rival to Reform in Makerfield by-election

By CHRISTIAN CALGIE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE Published: 23:31, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 23:31, 24 May 2026 Elon Musk has again weighed into British politics to support Restore Britain in the Makerfield by-election. The tech tycoon backed the party on his social media platform X with the message 'Restore Britain' in response to a post by the outfit's leader. Restore was formed by Rupert Lowe ten months ago as a pressure group, before transitioning to a political party in February, and has 21 councillors and one MP, Mr Lowe. The Great Yarmouth MP was suspended from Reform UK in March last year over accusations he made threats of violence to Reform's then-chairman Zia Yusuf. On Sunday night, Nigel Farage warned that Mr Musk's support for Restore Britain is playing into the hands of Keir Starmer, adding: 'Elon Musk has decided he will try to split the Right of British politics.' A poll this weekend showed Restore is set to finish third in Makerfield. Its seven per cent of the vote could help Reform beat Labour's Andy Burnham, who is polling only three per cent ahead of Mr Farage's party. Mr Lowe said: 'Elon Musk backing Restore Britain sends a clear message that real change is possible and the establishment is losing control.' Elon Musk waded into the Makerfield by-election campaign to support Restore Britain, a rival to Reform UK Rupert Lowe, Restore's leader and only MP, was suspended from Reform last year after threats of violence against the party's then-chairman The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.