The response to a student’s death at the hands of a knife-obsessed attacker on the streets of Southampton has left a muddled and upsetting mood in its wake.
For those who believe that this was an example of what the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, terms “two tier policing”, the police’s mistaken handcuffing of Henry Nowak, after his assailant accused him of racism, was a glaring error.
Courtesy of the magnification of social media and a desire to make it stand for something far larger, there has been a lively competition to make a horrible murder into a cause célèbre.
That is precisely what Nowak’s family begged should not happen, but the voices of those genuinely grieving his death are now sidelined by those who want to deploy the case to sharpen their own appeal: Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and its apostate off-shoot Restore Britain, lead by Rupert Lowe.
Lowe has claimed the police bias in the Nowak case was “conscious” and seeded by “DEI” (diversity and inclusion) training, though that link is tenuous. Farage called for “pure cold range” from the public in response to the murder.
This fight on the right has led rapidly to a bidding war for votes. But it is not limited to the fevered aftermath of this case – and its impacts will be felt in the upcoming Makerfield by-election and the electoral firefight beyond.
It is totemic of a sharpening contest between a party of the populist right (Reform) and the hard right (Restore) competing for disaffected voters. The immediate effect in this past week has been to pull Reform into a position it has skirted until now: the use of race as a more overt weapon in the political fight about British identity and policy implications.
The “pure cold rage” response called for by Farage was something of a departure in rhetorical style for a leader who has often suggested that there are problems with policing, while also eschewing the kind of race war narratives pushed by Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League.
One problem which parties of the new right face to establish themselves as sustainable opponents of traditional Conservatives is how far rightwards they can move, without alienating voters wary of being associated with outright racism. These voters believe (with some justification) that they represent a lot of ordinary views to the right of the main parties, but worry about sliding too far towards condoning upheaval in the streets.
A persistently aggressive campaigner with jailtime of his own behind him for contempt of court, Robinson is not on the ballot – but he is a powerful catalyst. By aligning his protests after the Nowak killing firmly behind Lowe’s Restore, he has exacted revenge for Farage’s cold shoulder.
In the run up to the Makerfield by-election however, a tragedy over 200 miles away from the Wigan seat will also test how voters on the right respond to a tug of war for their loyalty. In that context, the “pure cold rage” response called for by Farage was a calculated attempt to show that Reform could offer an emotional appeal to voters who will choose between his party and Lowe’s breakaway movement.
The “two tier policing” charge has multiple meanings. One is specific to the reaction of a police officer in a single situation incorrectly sizing up what had happened (a review is underway). Another spreads quickly into the suggestion that any kind of diversity training laid the ground for anti-white bias and that this is now endemic in public services and law enforcement. Such is Lowe’s view.
Handily, Lowe also has the support of Elon Musk, whose sporadic interest in UK politics at heated moments involves messages posted on X, the platform he owns. Musk was initially warm to Farage, but now prefers Lowe, whose posts he amplified and liked last week.
But Makerfield will show that Reform has reason to be concerned that Lowe’s breakaway party is gathering enough “further-right” support to drain critical support for Reform where it counts – in differential turn-out. Restore has gone full tilt for restoration of the death penalty for “heinous crimes”, while Farage is more hedged on the matter and does not want it to define Reform.
He does however have vulnerability if Restore subtracts a couple of percentage points at any election. It would, as one of the top Farage team put it to me be, “sheer madness if the split between Nigel and Rupert ended up with Andy Burnham becoming PM.” That is not out of the question. Labour is now confident that the “Burnham factor” is largely working – but it too needs these voters to feel strongly enough to show up on the day. Reform, similarly, has done best in the recent local elections, while traditional parties could not motivate a lethargic or resistant vote base.
In some ways Reform and Restore are cut from the same cloth – the politics of dissatisfaction and resentment. The reasons behind the quarrel last year that led to Lowe establishing as an independent force were deeply personal. Farage v Lowe shows what corporate types would call “key person risk” – in that their movements depend heavily on the appeal and authority of a single leader.
Lowe and Farage are in some ways too similar to co-exist well. Both have City backgrounds – Lowe was the more successful and both are “my way or the highway” types, averse to compromise. Right now, Restore have less to lose, because they are not tested on the broader sweep of their proposals and can focus on single issues, unencumbered by other policy commitments or contradictions.
As a result, Restore is testing Farage, as little as he would like to see it that way. Tories, scraping back some support in the polls, carefully avoid getting into conflict with Restore – the better to let Reform take the damage. Farage, let’s remember, has been an irritant and effective challenge to conventional politics for well over a decade. Now he has a bete noire outside his control to deal with. What goes around comes around – and will do so more in the fierce new fight on the right.
Anne McElvoy is executive editor at POLITICO and co-host of Politics at Sam and Anne’s
Hence then, the article about farage has challenged politics for years but now he s being tested was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Farage has challenged politics for years – but now he’s being tested )
Also on site :
- Nvidia clinches deals with South Korean giants including SK Group to advance AI boom
- Unisound Releases U2: A Native Agentic Large Model Built for Execution, Capable of Autonomously Decomposing and Completing 100+ Steps in Complex Real-World Workflows
- Watch Pink's Incredible Opening Number at the 2026 Tony Awards