The Great Yarmouth MP has denied the allegations saying they are “untrue and false” but it has revealed a crack in the party at a time when it is riding high in the polls.
Now fellow Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has called for Lowe to go.
“I have a great deal of respect for Rupert Lowe and as his Chief Whip I have bent over backwards to be fair with him since he entered Parliament.
Lowe responded saying: “I thought you were a friend. Evidently, I was wrong.”
Lowe was suspended from the party on Friday 7 March and referred to the police, after allegations he made “threats of physical violence” against the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf.
It added that one worked in his parliamentary office and one in his constituency office and complaints had been made to parliamentary authorities.
In addition, the party claimed: “Mr Lowe has, on at least two occasions, made threats of physical violence against our party chairman.
Reform UK MPs Lee Anderson, Nigel Farage, Rupert Lowe, Richard Tice, and James McMurdock, arrive at the House of Commons after the general election in July (Photo: Maja Smiejkowska/PA)
The statement was signed by Anderson, the party’s chief whip, and the chairman.
He added that it was “no surprise that this vexatious statement has been issued the day after my reasonable and constructive questions of Nigel and the Reform structure”.
In a message posted on X on Saturday, he said: “I can only smash my head against a brick wall for so long.”
“I am going to now repeat publicly an invitation that I have extended to Nigel Farage in private multiple times over many months,” he said. “Every offer has been refused or ignored.”
Elon Musk’s praise for Lowe
The Tesla and X boss hit out at Farage in January saying he “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead the party, after an earlier disagreement between the pair over jailed far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson.
But Farage had distanced himself from support for Robinson saying: “My view remains that Tommy Robinson is not right for Reform and I never sell out my principles.”
When asked in a post if the Great Yarmouth MP and former Southampton FC chairman should take over the top job, Musk appeared to endorse him.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (right) and his party treasurer Nick Candy (left) meet with Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in mid-December (Photo: Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK/PA Wire)
Responding to this turn of events, Lowe posted on X: “Nigel is leader of Reform.
“I look forward to working with Nigel and the entire team to continue to hold this incompetent Labour party to account, democratise our own party, win the next election and form a Reform government.”
Lowe called for immediate deportation of “fake asylum seekers” on X ton 2 March.
In a candid interview with the Daily Mail on Thursday, Lowe appeared to throw doubt on Farage’s leadership of Reform UK.
“It’s absolutely staggering. I don’t know where this has come from.”
Lowe appeared to questions Farage’s ability to be a good prime minister in an interview with the daily Mail (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty)He added: “It’s too early to know whether Nigel will deliver the goods.
“Nigel is a fiercely independent individual and is extremely good at what we have done so far.
“Will those messianic qualities distil into sage leadership? I don’t know.”
“We have to start behaving as if we are leading and not merely protesting”, he said, “Nigel is a messianic figure who is at the core of everything but he has to learn to delegate, as not everything can go through one person.”
Reform UK’s surging popularity
A YouGov poll from 4 March for voting intention showed Labour had a slim lead with 26 per cent of the vote and Reform UK a close second on 25 per cent.
Last month, opinion polls suggested support for Reform UK had edged ahead of that for Labour.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives trailed on 22 per cent, the party’s lowest score since the general election in July 2024.
And his overall leader satisfaction rating of -1 was far above the Prime Minister on -30.
Rupert Lowe’s statement in full
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, to read Reform’s untrue and false allegations.
“Let me be abundantly clear – this investigation is based on zero credible evidence against me, as has been repeatedly stated by the neutral investigator. None has been provided.
“I have cooperated and spoken at length with the KC they instructed, at great cost to the party, to investigate a minor staff matter.
“I have just spoken to the KC. She is dismayed that this statement has been made, and reiterated that no evidence against me has been sent to her. She stated that this has been issued before the investigation has even started.
“She is shocked at the process, shocked at the communication from the party, and shocked that no credible evidence has been given, despite her repeated requests.
“I was sent an initial letter late on Friday afternoon last week, again with no evidence provided, with no prior warning and no attempt to understand the full position.
“Allegations of physical threats are outrageous and entirely untrue.
I have never made any derogatory comments about women, or those with disabilities. This is a lie. These allegations are not even referring to me. I will be seeking legal advice immediately.
“There is no credible evidence against me, as the KC has stated on numerous occasions.
“It is no surprise that this vexatious statement has been issued the day after my reasonable and constructive questions of Nigel and the Reform structure. It was issued on X late on a Friday afternoon, with no prior warning.
“All I stated was that communication needs to improve, delegation needs to improve, structure needs to improve – these are all reasonable requests of a party looking to form the next Government. I stand by everything I said.
“I have been pushing for this behind the scenes for many months, with zero success. I have been frozen out of meetings, policy discussions, press conferences and more. My repeated requests for better communication and regular meetings have been ignored and mocked.
“Honestly, I have tried and tried – and will continue to try. I did not speak publicly without exhausting all other options, repeatedly. I have done everything in my power to resolve this behind closed doors. Sadly, I failed.
“Our voters, our members and our country all deserve so much better than this.
“To Reform supporters of mine, please stay with the party. We must win the next election. There is no other choice. Infighting serves nobody but our enemies. This could have all been resolved with even the most basic level of communication.
“I do not believe that Reform members will be pleased to know that their membership fees are being spent on instructing expensive lawyers to investigate their own MPs, over matters that are entirely baseless and have been dealt with in the correct Parliamentary procedure, with HR’s full involvement and support.
“The staff member in question only raised a vexatious complaint once disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against them for serious wrongdoing. The other individual mentioned, dropped her appeal.
“If they want to kick me out over false claims, they’ll have to finally present some credible evidence against me. There is none, as the KC has just told me. Again.
“A complete inability to accept even the most mild constructive criticism without such a malicious reaction is not effective leadership.
“This is our party as much as it is Nigel’s.”
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