As interest in the internal dynamics and personnel of Restore Britain grow — even as our internal estimation of their likely vote share in Makerfield has declined substantially — it is a timely moment for us to offer our first Who’s Who of the party. Today, we’ll take a look at the figures around Rupert Lowe, their factional alignments, and what each of them wants out of ol’ Rupe.

This newsletter’s agenda: Restore Britain: a reasonably neutral description of the people behind it (paid); Internal divisions in Restore (paid).

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As the Makerfield by-election rumbles on and early polling starts to emerge, it is becoming clear that, whilst margins are tight and everything is still all to play for, the current av…

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In the last week, the battle lines for the Makerfield by-election have been drawn, with parties announcing their intentions and their candidates. Today, we look at who has been chosen to stand, how the campaigns will be run, and the prospects for fighting Manchesterism in Manchester, so we don’t have to fight it elsewhere. Plus, we’ll take a look at Rupert Lowe’s curious decision to endorse an Andy Burnham Premiership.

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Finally, the elections which have consumed so much conversational airspace have come and gone — and with them, the party system that has dominated British politics for the last hundred years.

Later this week, we will consider what this transformative vote means for Keir Starmer — as well as what the dominance of separatist parties in Scotland and Wales means for Britain as a whole — but in this week’s State of the Right, we take a look at how the local elections will shape the next chapter of the British right. What do we make of Reform’s performance, and what does it suggest about the nature of their coalition?

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This week, I sat down with Danny Kruger — MP for East Wiltshire, and Reform UK’s Head of Preparation for Government (aka, Civil Service and machinery of government reform). We discussed his plans for how a Reform government would operate, the changes he intends to make to the Civil Service, and how Reform will handle the House of Lords. I think it’s fair to say we had a more comprehensive discussion than any I’ve seen with him before.

Plus, I asked him about some of his recent commentary on immigration, which has generated some controversy on the right for appearing unjustifiably sanguine regarding the possibility of assimilation. We discussed the ways in which we should (and shouldn’t) distinguish ancestral and immigrant-descended populations, and I questioned Kruger’s views on demographic change and the desirability of preventing it.

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This week, we take a look at emerging divisions within Reform, ask whether the party is suffering from a lack of radicalism, and explore who is doing the most to maintain the party’s changemaking credentials.

This newsletter’s agenda: New divisions emerge in Reform (full feature)

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A slow week this week for domestic news, as the Iran crisis continues, so we thought now would be a good time to preview next month’s local elections, with some insight into what Reform are hoping to achieve internally and what would represent success on May May 7th — but first, a quick word on Zia Yusuf’s reparations visa bans.

This newsletter’s agenda: Zia Yusuf proposes visa ban on countries demanding reparations; Local elections preview

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This week, we were reminded of Britain’s interminable gerontocracy as Robert Jenrick announced a Reform government would maintain the triple lock on pensions. Could we ever have hoped otherwise?

Plus, we look at the fall of Reform’s Housing Spokesman, and ask whether the party might do better to avoid such appointments for the time being.

This newsletter’s agenda: Reform commits to the triple lock; Spoke too soon?

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This week, we’ve seen Reform announce hundreds of new candidates, expel a few more, and hint at the return of others. We’ll be looking at who’s in, who’s out, and what to make of it all.

Plus, we’ll be looking at the impact of Labour’s blatant attempt to rig political financing in their favour, and how it might impact Reform’s fundraising capabilities.

This newsletter’s agenda: In and Out: Scotland, Parry, McMurdock; Crypto-fascism?

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This week, we look at rumours of an upcoming Tory reshuffle. Who’s in, who’s out, and why should we care? Also, we look at an interesting shift in messaging on immigration from Reform…

This newsletter’s agenda: Kemi Badenoch considering major reshuffle; Reform raises replacement

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Around 18 months ago, we launched our weekly newsletter to give paid subscribers something in return for their generosity, and to give ourselves a way to comment on day-to-day events that might not merit an article in their own right but are nevertheless worth touching on. Part of the challenge with this model has been that the regular weekly format (combined with time and word limits) mean that in busy weeks, important things might be missed, and in slow weeks we nevertheless have to find something to talk about, even if it isn’t really worth doing so.

The second issue with the newsletter is that there are two, quite separate, types of stories worth covering on a day-to-day basis: general news and events in Britain and around the world on the one hand, and the continuing reformation of the British right on the other. Combining our commentary on the two in one newsletter has generally meant less space for the latter. This seems especially inopportune, given that these ‘internal’ developments are where we are perhaps best positioned to provide some exclusive insight.

As a result, we have decided to restructure our coverage, with a new weekly newsletter focused entirely on developments within the British right. As Reform continues to build out its party machine, develop policy, and prepare for government, we’ll cover these processes in depth — as well as the internal dynamics between different individuals and factions that shape them. We’ll also check in with the Conservative party from time to time as they drift gently into well-deserved obscurity, and of course cover the broader discussion and minor parties including Restore, Advance, Homeland, and so on — to the extent there are interesting and relevant developments there.

The old newsletter will also continue, with a renewed focus on current events outside of internal political debates. Rather than releasing a newsletter with three sections once a week, we will release shorter newsletters as and when events worth commenting on occur, giving us a little more flexibility. Overall, these changes will mean more content for paid subscribers, with that content being of higher value.

Today, in the first instalment of State of the Right, we cover Reform’s handling of the war in Iran, and check in with Richard Tice as he seeks to carve out his own sphere of influence in economic policy.

This newsletter’s agenda: Robert Jenrick saves Reform’s Iran war messaging; Richard Tice on manoeuvres after being snubbed for Shadow Chancellor role

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