Restore Britain has experienced internal turmoil following the resignation of Steve Laws, a prominent hardline member who criticized party leader Rupert Lowe for a series of "horrendous decisions" and a failure to support the membership. Laws, who has openly described himself as an ethnonationalist and praised Adolf Hitler’s policies, stepped down last week amid a growing dispute over the party’s stance on issues of race and cultural identity.
The conflict arose after Orla Minihane, Restore’s spokeswoman for the safety of women and girls, addressed concerns about abuse affecting all British girls, specifically naming those from Indian, Asian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Somalian backgrounds. Speaking at an event organized by the party’s Gateshead branch, Minihane asserted the need to protect girls regardless of heritage. Her comments sparked backlash on social media from several hardline party supporters who insisted that “white native girls are our priority,” arguing that “our own come first.”
One former supporter expressed frustration on the platform X (formerly Twitter), accusing Minihane of “pandering to foreigners” and threatening to encourage others to leave the party. Minihane responded by dismissing her critics as “faceless people who shout about patriotism while they hide behind keyboards,” a position endorsed by Howard Cox, Restore’s transport spokesman. Cox described Minihane’s detractors in harsh terms, calling them “jealous scumbags” and “pathetic amoebas” whose only outlet is online commentary.
The friction between senior party figures and sections of the membership exacerbated divisions within Restore Britain. Laws, who criticized Cox’s recent appointment to the party and Rupert Lowe’s perceived support for it, said that the leadership had chosen to side against the core membership. He characterized his time with the party as a “humiliation ritual” and announced his departure in an email later posted on social media.
Another influential hardline supporter, Sam Wilkes, known online as "Zoomer Historian," described Laws’s resignation as a "serious warning" for Restore’s leadership. Wilkes argued that the party was losing support due to what he called ineffective leadership decisions, cautioning that the leadership’s attempts to avoid appearing extreme were instead driving a wedge within the party.
Steve Laws has previously been associated with Remigration Now, a group advocating for the removal of all non-white and Jewish individuals from Britain. He has also made contentious statements regarding Nazi Germany, including expressing support for some of Hitler’s policies and questioning accepted Holocaust figures. When approached for comment, Laws said the publicly reported reasons for his resignation were inaccurate but did not elaborate.
Attempts to obtain responses from Rupert Lowe and officials representing Restore Britain were unsuccessful. The party’s internal dissent highlights ongoing tensions over racial and cultural policies among its ranks and raised questions about its future direction.