Nigel Farage says he's 'open-minded' on talks with Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe on a pact to 'unite the Right' and reveals he 'reached out' to rival

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 13:40, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 13:56, 3 August 2026 Nigel Farage today said he is 'open-minded' about holding talks with Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe following an offer to 'unite the Right' and take on Labour. The Reform UK leader revealed he had contacted Mr Lowe following the suggestion of a deal between their two rival parties. Mr Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP, was initially elected to Parliament as a Reform MP at the 2024 general election. But he left Reform last year amid a furious row with Mr Farage and other senior Reform figures. He went on to found Restore Britain and has since seen his outfit secure a significant portion of the vote at the Makerfield by-election in June, as well as last week's contest for Greater Manchester mayor. Reform and Restore both outpolled the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in each of those contests. The rising popularity of Restore Britain has sparked concern among some within Reform that it could split the Right-wing vote ahead of the next general election, which would boost the chances of Labour remaining in power. On Sunday, Mr Lowe posted a social media video in which he said Reform and Restore could find a 'common way forward' provided Mr Farage agreed to certain terms. He also called for the pair to put aside 'personalities' and 'past disagreements'. Nigel Farage said he is 'open minded' about holding talks with Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe following an offer to 'unite the Right' and take on Labour The Reform UK leader revealed he had contacted Mr Lowe following the suggestion of a deal between their two rival parties Asked about a possible pact with Restore during a press conference on Monday, Mr Farage said he had 'no desire' to meet some of the items on Mr Lowe's policy 'shopping list'. But he added he had responded to the offer from Mr Lowe with an 'open mind'. Mr Farage said: 'If you want to do a political deal with somebody, you know, you would contact them privately and not do a 12-minute video. 'That said, I did actually reach out back yesterday to him. I did say, 'look, should we have a call?' I haven't heard back yet, so I don't know what the sincerity of this is.' As part of his terms for a deal, Mr Lowe said that Reform would have to agree to ban the burqa and halal meat, and rule out having any former Conservative ministers in future Cabinets. But Mr Farage insisted he would not axe Robert Jenrick, his Treasury spokesman, or Suella Braverman, Reform's education spokesman, from his top team. 'I don't ditch my friends. I don't ditch my allies, whether that's Suella Braverman or Posh George (Cottrell), you know I do not ditch people because somebody else wants me to,' he said. Mr Lowe acrimoniously left Reform in March 2025 amid claims of bullying and threatening behaviour. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Lowe would face no criminal charges.  In the aftermath, Mr Lowe called Mr Farage a 'coward' and a 'viper'. Mr Farage on Monday said a 'sorry would be nice' from Mr Lowe, adding: 'Look, there is this myth that I fell out with Rupert Lowe. It's not true. 'Everyone fell out with Rupert Lowe. It was the screaming, the shouting, the threatening, the legal threats, everyone fell out with him. 'If you have to speak to people or make arrangements with people that you've previously fallen out with, if there is a greater good to be had from that, then I'm not closing my mind to it. 'Sorry would be nice, but I would have thought unlikely to be forthcoming.' The Reform leader continued: 'In broader terms, look, you could see a situation where Restore, without the hope of winning anything outside Great Yarmouth, I mean literally without hope of winning a single seat in the country, could do us great harm. 'I think online you will see a lot of Restore potential voters now beginning to worry about the impact that might have. 'I finalise that by saying if it was the offer of a deal, it came in a very unusual way. I have responded to it potentially, you know, with an open mind, as I would, but I'm certainly not going to be ditching people who I view to be allies and a great asset.' Mr Lowe later posted on X that Mr Farage was a 'liar', and disputed his version of events – but said the offer was still open to him and Reform. 'I do not want to make private conversations public, but Farage has just done so at a national press conference,' he wrote. 'He just stated he said to me yesterday 'Shall we have a call?'. Sadly, that is just a lie.  'Yesterday at 10.30 Nigel messaged me, saying the following three words. 'Will call later'... I have received no call.'