Tice and Lowe clash over vote-splitting as Restore rejects calls to stand aside

A row has broken out between Reform UK and Restore Britain over whether Restore is splitting the right-of-centre vote. It follows Thursday's by-elections in Holborn and St Pancras and in Amber Valley.

At 16:02 BST on Friday 9 October, Reform MP Richard Tice posted on X, quoting the Amber Valley council by-election result: "Vote Restore get Islamists". The Green Party won the ward from the Conservatives, with Reform in second place and Restore fifth on 10.8%.

Seven minutes later, Restore leader Rupert Lowe replied: "Vote Reform, get some random Bangladeshi bloke." The remark appeared to refer to Reform's Portsmouth candidate, Addy Mo Asaduzzaman, who was the subject of BBC coverage in December 2025.

Mr Lowe also rejected suggestions that Restore had cost Reform third place in Holborn and St Pancras, where Restore won 692 votes and Reform finished fourth, 310 votes behind the Conservatives. "I see now we're even being accused of 'splitting' the vote and 'costing' Reform third place? Honestly, it's so pathetic," he wrote. "Those 692 votes do not belong to us, and they certainly do not belong to Reform."

There is no evidence of how Restore's voters would have voted if the party had not stood. Whether Restore "cost" Reform any votes remains a matter of argument between the parties, not an established fact.

On Saturday evening, Restore's National Security Spokesman Henry Bolton issued a statement at 19:17 BST, which Mr Lowe reposted. "No political party owns the votes of the British people," Mr Bolton said. "If Reform wants the support of voters, it should earn it, not demand another party stands aside and gives it a free pass."

Mr Bolton also claimed that Reform had rejected an offer of cooperation from Mr Lowe. Reform has not confirmed this.

The exchange has so far played out mainly on X, with limited mainstream coverage. Neither party has signalled any change of approach. Restore says it will keep contesting elections in its own right.

Image: Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons