Reform UK refers MP Rupert Lowe to police

Reform UK says it has suspended MP Rupert Lowe and referred him to police, alleging he made “threats of physical violence” against party chairman Zia Yusuf.

In a statement with chief whip Lee Anderson, Yusuf also said the party had received allegations of bullying in Lowe’s parliamentary and constituency offices.

The party has appointed a lawyer to conduct an investigation into allegations of “workplace bullying” made by two female employees, he added.

Writing on social media platform X, Lowe said the party’s allegations were “untrue and false” and he was “disappointed, but not surprised” to read them.

He added there was “zero credible evidence” against him and he was “seeking legal advice immediately”.

Lowe said his suspension was a reaction to having criticised party leader Nigel Farage in a newspaper interview.

Reform, the successor to Farage’s Brexit Party, has been riding high in recent polls – but this is a spectacular and very public explosion of divisions at the top of the party.

The party had only five MPs in the Commons, and Lowe’s suspension means it has now lost one.

In an interview with the Daily Mail earlier this week, Lowe had said the party remained a “protest party led by the Messiah” under Farage’s leadership.

Farage, he added, would need the “right people” around him to “deliver the goods” as party leader.

Farage hit back in an interview, saying Lowe was “completely wrong” and Reform UK was “absolutely not a protest party”.

A spokesman for Reform UK confirmed it had withdrawn the party whip from him, meaning he will not sit as part of the party’s group in Parliament and becomes an independent MP.

In response, Lowe said: “I asked reasonable and constructive questions of Nigel Farage and Reform’s leadership, following months of pushing for progress behind closed doors.

“The day after, I find a knife in my back over false allegations. Whip suspended.”

A Reform UK source denied the announcement of its investigation was connected to the public spat between Lowe and Farage.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “On Thursday 6 March we received an allegation of verbal threats made by a 67-year-old man on Friday 13 December 2024.

“Officers are carrying out an assessment of the allegations to determine what further action may be required.”

In its statement, the party said it had appointed a KC, a senior lawyer, to investigate the allegations of bullying in Lowe’s offices, adding it understood complaints had been made to parliamentary authorities.

“To date, Mr Lowe has yet to cooperate with this investigation,” the statement added.

“In addition to these allegations of a disturbing pattern of behaviour, Mr Lowe has on at least two occasions made threats of physical violence against our party chairman. Accordingly, this matter is with the police.”

Writing on X after Reform UK’s statement, Lowe said he had “cooperated and spoken at length” with the lawyer appointed by the party.

Tim Montgomerie, a former Conservative commentator who defected to Reform last December, said as soon as he arrived in Reform he had “picked up these tensions” between Farage and Lowe.

“I don’t know obviously these individual allegations but I think this was going to come to a head at some point anyway,” he told BBC Newsnight.

“They have a slightly different sort of philosophy.

“I agree with Rupert on some things but Nigel’s fundamental task to keep Reform away from the nuttier side of the alt right, I think Rupert was indulging a little bit of that.

“So the tension was real and I don’t think there’s any way back from this,” added Mr Montgomerie, who is a former adviser to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.