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On the 7th March 2025, Reform UK released a statement saying they had suspended Rupert Lowe, one of their MPs. The statement displayed a variety of accusations against Lowe: he was accused of bullying female staff in his employ, and he was also accused of threatening Zia Yusuf (Reform UK party chairman) with physical violence on a number of occasions. As a result, Reform UK suspended the whip, meaning that while he is still an MP, he is no longer in the party. Lowe has denied all the allegations.
In the aftermath of Reform’s statement, questions began to arise as to the timing of the allegations. In the week prior to the accusations, Rupert Lowe had criticised leadership of the Reform Party and Nigel Farage, saying that he would not support Farage at the next election unless the party had ‘a proper plan to change the way we govern from top to bottom’. Lowe did not shy away from hinting that his recent comments may have had something to do with the allegations, complaining hat the party had a ‘complete inability to accept even the most mild constructive criticism’.
Since the initial accusations made by Reform UK, it has been confirmed that the Metropolitan Police have opened an investigation into the alleged violence against party chairman, Zia Yusuf. Reform UK also announced that they have begun an investigation into the allegations of bullying in his offices. Lowe has denied the allegations yet again and offers his full cooperation on the investigations.
This is not the first instance of infighting from within Reform UK. In November of last year, Benyamin Habib quit the party citing issues with how the party was being run and its ideology. His announcement came not long after he was removed as deputy leader of the party in favour of Richard Tice in an attempt by Nigel Farage ‘to make the party more professional’. In light of Lowe’s oust from Reform, rumours have begun to surface about the possibility of a splinter group from Reform with both Habib and Lowe in the pipeline.
Discussions of infighting do not appear to have slowed Nigel Farage in his quest for dominance of the UK’s right-leaning constituents. When questioned by reporters, Farage appeared to downplay reports of unhappiness in the camp, and keenly referenced a recent influx of councillors that have left their parties and joined the ranks of Reform. The new Reform recruits were unveiled at a recent event hosted by Nigel Farage, an event which he claimed showed the party was ‘broadening and deepening’. The recent sentencing of ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury has also piqued the interest of Reform UK, who are eagerly awaiting the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby. With Reform seeing some uptick in the polls, the upcoming by-election will prove to be a big test for both Starmer and Farage as they fight for the seat.
While the extent of the damage from reports of Reform infighting is yet to be seen, both Labour and the Conservatives will be hoping for further disunity. The most recent polling on voter intention sees a particularly close race between Labour and Reform, with the Conservatives not too far behind. The results of the by-election will certainly be a telling sign of current UK public opinion with each party desperately hoping to win the seat, and the affections of the British public.
Edited by Isabel Whitburn
Image: ‘Member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland‘, Gage Skidmore, 2018 // CC BY-SA 2.0
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