The far-right political party Restore Britain have officially announced they’ll be contesting their first election in Scotland
The Mid Argyll by-election will mark the first time Restore Britain are on the ballot, as Rupert Lowe claims the party has the third-largest membership in Scotland.
The party, which was only officially registered on March 20 2026, has become a fast-rising movement recently.
Now, despite the fact that ending devolution is a part of its manifesto, Restore Britain are attempting to break into Scottish politics.
Who are Restore Britain?
Scotland’s right-wing has historically struggled. The Conservatives only managed 31 seats in their best ever Scottish election and Reform had barely established a foothold before a new, even more right-wing competitor appeared.
Restore Britain, the brainchild of MP Rupert Lowe, is a party even more radical than Reform. Their core policy is “Remigration”, which advocates for the removal of all illegal immigrants and even some legally resident ones.
The ‘movement’ began in June 2025, shortly after Lowe was expelled from Reform UK after falling out with the leadership. They first began contesting elections in Great Yarmouth, where Lowe sits as an MP, and won all 10 of the seats they contested.
The party then finished third in the Makerfield by-election with 6.8% of the vote and finished fourth in the Greater Manchester Mayoral election with 8.7%, managing to beat the conservatives in both elections.
Nationally, the party remains a fringe movement, only polling around 4% but their rapid expansion, considering they only became a party seven months ago, means they should be taken as a serious electoral threat.
Restore in Scotland
So far, most of Restore Britain’s efforts have been focused on England but a spate of announcements from Lowe suggest they’ll be seriously contesting Scotland as well. Despite the large controversy over Lowe’s comments on the Dunblane massacre, he claims their fortunes have changed.
Shortly after announcing their first election, Lowe claimed on Twitter that the party had 11,000 members in Scotland, which would make them the third-largest party in Scotland behind Reform and the SNP. It’s unclear whether these numbers are accurate.
What we do know is that the party now has regional branches in almost every constituency in Scotland. Restore’s key platform is to end devolution and take power away from Holyrood, in addition to their incredibly radical immigration policy.
Their recent announcements mark a decisive step into Scottish politics and could mean Restore Britain will become a contender of future contests, including the upcoming 2027 Scottish council elections
Could Restore win in Mid Argyll?
Not much is known about George Love, a volunteer firefighter who is standing as Restore’s candidate. All we do know comes from his Twitter account which features a heavily AI-altered photo of the candidate and is managed by a volunteer called Robbie.
The only posts on the account so far have been his introduction (5 minutes after his candidacy was announced), a post calling for mass deportations and saying the Hindu holy site of Har Ki Pauri looked like a “Landfill or open sewer”
Mid-Argyll is a ward within the Argyll and Bute Council, which comprises a rural area on Scotland’s west coast. Historically, it has largely elected independent councillors as well as two SNP members, one Liberal Democrat and one Conservative.
Hardly a Conservative stronghold to begin with, Reform managed just 13.3% of the vote in the wider constituency in the last election. A three-way split on an already small right-wing vote makes their chances of winning incredibly slim.
Why did Restore come to Scotland?
Restore have had similarly hopeless chances in all the elections they’ve stood in but it’s been part of a consistent strategy that’s not necessarily based on winning elections but getting good results.
Rupert Lowe has consistently posted about his party’s results in elections such as Makerfield, where their placement ahead of the Conservatives lent them legitimacy as a political force.
The goal, for now, seems to be probing various local and high-profile by-elections in order to gain publicity. Their initial campaign in Argyll seems to be a test-run for a much wider Scotland campaign later down the line.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the Argyll election will bode well for Restore’s future chances in Scotland or whether the far-right party has made quite a misstep into Scottish politics.
Featured Image Credit: UK Parliament