A Reform poster on a stake has been snapped in half and tucked between the wheelie bins of a front garden in Platt Bridge. In its stead, tied to the front gate of the semi-detached house festooned in St George's flags, there's now a Restore Britain banner.
It's a snapshot of a voter group that has slowly started to grow in recent weeks during the furious campaign period of the Makerfield by-election. Around seven per cent of voters are estimated to be backing MP Rupert Lowe's new far-right party. Most of them previously backed Reform.
But despite their growing presence - and threat to Nigel Farage's substantial fanbase in the constituency - one thing seems to be missing from much of Restore's campaign: their candidate.
"It's a lady, I think," said Sean, 56, the owner of the snapped Reform poster. "I don't know much about her. I'm voting because of what the party stands for. And because of Rupert Lowe."
Sean, a local carpet layer, says Restore campaigners have been to his house. But it was watching Lowe's videos online that convinced him to switch to the new party. "I was going to vote Reform until that thing happened in Ireland," he said, referring to an attempted murder allegedly carried out by a 30-year-old Sudanese man in Belfast, which sparked protests and pockets of violence in the Northern Irish city. "I used to support Nigel Farage, but then you see all this stuff and you think - is he the man? I'm not racist or anything but enough is enough."
Run by Farage's former ally, Lowe, the party positions itself as more right-wing, and more anti-immigration, than Reform. It has attracted the support of far right extremists, including Lotus Eaters Media, and former members of white nationalist and fascist groups, and its leader has endorsed the positions of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson.
Sean says he's attracted by the party's stance on immigration, which includes mass deportation, 'fostering a hostile environment towards illegal immigrants', and removing humanitarian rights already granted to those fleeing war and disaster.
Adam Rayley, 35, has also been drawn to Restore by the clips he's seen online of Rupert Lowe, rather than any local campaigning he's seen. "I don't know much about the candidate," said the Wigan roofer outside Galloway's bakery with a shrug. "I just feel like Restore's views are most like my own. They have the same views.
"I'm not racist, but I feel like the immigrants coming in now aren't checked. Our borders are wide open and we've got our own families and homes to care for. I'm struggling myself, I'm a full-time carer for my girlfriend, and we've got three kids altogether. And there's nothing for us. I do feel strongly on that."
Another Restore voter the LDRS spoke to in Bryn said she'd also never seen Restore's candidate, businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd - despite working in their headquarters at the Bryn Community Centre. Joanna Lapniewski, 64, a cleaner and ex-Army officer from Makerfield, said: "I've not seen Rebecca, but I've spoken to people who say she's really down to earth. But I've read up on Rupert Lowe and there doesn't seem to be anything there about him and corruption or anything like that."
What convinced Mrs Lapniewski was Restore's stance on 'protecting women', which she believes puts them in a better position for female voters than Rob Kenyon's track record on women. The Reform candidate has been challenged several times on following his now deleted response to a derogatory comment about Carol Vorderman and statements about women's driving and abortion.
Only one Restore voter the M.E.N. spoke to said she'd seen Rebecca Shepherd - from a distance. "I've seen her around, I wave at her whenever she drives past," Claire Cooper, 47, tells us from her front door in Bamfurlong. "She's got stables somewhere in Wigan."
Mrs Cooper, a stay-at-home mum, also used to support Reform but joined Restore as a member as soon as they were formed in February this year. "I don't know much about the candidate, Rebecca. I'm quite blinkered, to be honest. For me it's just about the rape gang inquiry," she said, referring to the national inquiry into grooming gangs. Rupert Lowe raised almost £800,000 and published a 219-page 'independent report' on the issue.
Mrs Cooper added: "Nobody attended the inquiry from Reform - or Conservatives or Lib Dems. I do think Reform has got a better chance in the election than Restore, but morally I think they're bankrupt."
Mrs Cooper also feels Rupert Lowe has 'more gumption' to deal with immigration than Reform. "I do feel very strongly about the way Wigan is in particular when it comes to immigration," she said. "I'm a stay-at-home so I spend a lot of time driving to the shops and so on. Faces are changing. People can't speak English in the shops. I don't like it."
Voters of other persuasions say they've also not seen much of a presence from Restore. Ken Williams another Platt Bridge resident, said he's sick of 'absolutely loads' of campaigners knocking on his doors - but it's mostly Reform and Labour. "Restore just put leaflets through the door. They went straight into the bin," said the 63-year-old, who was recovering from knee surgery. "I just want Labour out, but I do think other people being in [the race] might scupper Reform. I've voted Labour all my life but I just think that Andy Burnham's using us to get PM. He won't be up here like he says he will, he'll be in London trying to sort the country out."
Back in Bamfurlong, Susan is sure Restore has knocked on her door, as a number of her neighbours have put up signs for them. "We did once see one of them putting up a big sign up and they shouted something at us as we drove past... desperate measures, I guess," she joked wryly. The 31-year-old Reform voter was cleaning her windows with dogs Percy and Nala to make her house look nice ahead of the England game tonight.
"I don't speak to any of the campaigners, because I feel like I'm the kind of person who's easily led," she said. "I'd rather make my own mind up. But I think something's got to change with the system. I'm pregnant with our first child, and it doesn't feel safe around here. I moved here from a tiny village in Cheshire, and I couldn't believe it when I saw there was a knife surrender bin in Platt Bridge. And the amount of immigrants that are coming over - it's not racist, I'm not racist - but we keep giving out to other people when we're struggling to give people at home what they need."
Others, like Karl, Barbara, and Julie in Jubilee Park, Ashton-in-Makerfield, also haven't seen much of a physical presence from Restore - though again, some of their neighbours have put posters up. "Though to be honest, I can barely tell one from another these days," Julie said, "It's all a bit of a blur. Every day there's someone knocking on your door." "And I don't think I'd know [the candidate] if she walked into me to be fair," Barbara chimed in. "I don't even know what she looks like."
