Farage, Lowe, Polanski... pray for them

Some swords are double-edged; they can cut both ways, not just at those against whom they are wielded, but also those wielding them. And all who live by the sword (as Someone once said, Matthew 26v52) will die by the sword.

Last week’s by-election in Makerfield was a case in point. Sam Leith, writing in The Spectator, puts it well:

"Loathing is now the great engine of our politics. Keir Starmer came to power because everyone loathed the Tories and many within his party loathed Jeremy Corbyn. Andy Burnham has returned to Parliament, mostly, because the voters of Makerfield loathe Keir Starmer, but also in part because Rupert Lowe loathes Nigel Farage. The Green Party and Reform are doing well, where they are doing well, because their voters loathe someone else: "Zionists", rich people and conventional politicians in one case; immigrants, liberals and conventional politicians in the other.

"Most voting is now about getting rid of someone you loathe, or voting for someone you loathe a bit less to prevent someone you loathe a lot more from taking power." ^[1]

The politics of loathing is one such double-edged sword; those who live by it experience electoral success, surf a wave of acclaim and feel – for a brief and volatile moment – that they have the approval of the people. It is not long before the wave breaks on the shore, another one rushing in behind it.

Many have speculated on the hubris of our outgoing Prime Minister: did he confuse the public’s disdain for the Conservative party with his own popularity? And if he did, will any of our current political players learn the lesson?

Thoughts

My thoughts turn, at this point, to Nigel Farage MP, whose party, Reform UK, still sits securely at the top of the polls, and whose rise to that position has been astonishingly rapid. For all that, the past week would have been a disappointment: Makerfield opted, overwhelmingly, for Andy Burnham and against Reform. That this should come from the left is no surprise. That there should be a rump of right-leaning voting which did the same must have come as a rude shock.

As Leith alludes to above, Rupert Lowe MP’s Restore Britain took a slice of the vote share Reform were counting on. It didn’t materially affect the outcome, but it is undeniable that Restore ate Reform’s lunch, not least because of Farage’s direct-to-camera video addressed to Restore votes, urging them to get behind his party, instead.

Prayers

At this point, not only do my thoughts turn to Nigel Farage, but so do my prayers. For this is a personally chastening moment: will he repeat the hubris so many think misled Starmer, and credit Reform’s astonishing rise to his own personal popularity? Or will he see that, in our politics of loathing, Reform thrives because of a wearied and widespread disdain at available options?

Will he recognise that this sword is double-edged? Using the same playbook as Reform UK, Rupert Lowe’s Restore were able to put a dent in their lead: it is a forced taste of the meal Farage is preparing for the Conservatives. In no way do I expect Restore to be as effective an insurgency as Reform: in truth, I am very eager for it not to be, because I can only imagine what Rupert Lowe and those who vote for him make of me, and of my mixed-race children. But will Farage respond with discernment, wisdom and humility to this moment? I am praying for that.

The alternative is that Restore’s agitation will see Reform lurch in anxious reaction, to ensure they aren’t outflanked by stronger rhetoric and further-reaching measures. Why else would Farage, despite the clear wishes of the Nowak family, have called for "pure, cold rage"?

As I have been reflecting on recently, anger connects, energises and spreads. We ought to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1v19). Some swords are double-edged, and should be put back in their place, for those who live by them will die by them.

One dark reality (again, alluded to by Leith above) that our current situation intimates is this: you may not be a racist, or lead a racist party, but you may need racist votes. Will our leaders have the integrity not to chase them? And lest we think this is a hard word for Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe and those on the right, it is just as pertinent for Zack Polanski MP, and the barely disguised antisemitism that clearly animates a subsection of the Green vote.

To conclude...

Some swords are double-edged. But there is one which we are called to live by, which cuts and divides and lays us bare before the eyes of our Creator, judging our thoughts and attitudes. This is, as a great modern hymn puts it, "the sword that makes the wounded whole", the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Hebrews 4v12).

Take up that sword, and – as it commands – pray for those in authority, for Keir Starmer, for Andy Burnham, for Kemi Badenoch, for Nigel Farage, for Rupert Lowe, for Zack Polanski. Pray for them to lead and speak with wisdom, discernment, and with hearts that desire the peace and flourishing of the people of the United Kingdom. Pray for them to see the politics of loathing as the double-edged sword that will cut them down, in the end. Pray for the Lord to give us better policies and politics than we deserve.

1. Sam Leith, "Keir and Loathing: The Hatred of Starmer Has Gone Too Far", The Spectator, 22 June 2026.