If someone ploughs a lonely furrow or ploughs a lone furrow, they do something by themselves and in their own way, without any help or support from other people. It seems that Shattock was something of an original thinker, ploughing a lonely furrow. Stein sandwich bar continues to plough a lone furrow as the building's only occupant. Note: This expression is very variable. Their government is more than adept at ploughing its own diplomatic furrow. Note: A furrow is a long narrow trench made in the ground by a plough.

If you describe someone as a voice crying in the wilderness or a lone voice in the wilderness, you mean that they are telling people about the dangers in an important situation or the truth about it, but nobody is paying any attention. Until recently, Dr Seddon's was a voice crying in the wilderness. But people are starting to listen to what he has to say. For years, he was a lone voice in the wilderness, and a lot of it came across as self-serving. But I'll tell you, the man was right. Note: This is from the Bible, and refers to John the Baptist who preached the coming of the Messiah but was often ignored. (Matthew 3:3)

A lone wolf is an independent person who likes doing things on their own, rather than doing them with other people. He was also somewhat of a lone wolf, never marrying. Latham's personal style is that of a political lone wolf.