Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe (Image: PA)
Nigel Farage will doubtless enjoy basking in the glow of the spring sunshine – and a likely local election runaway success next month. But there could be dark clouds on the horizon.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. And Rupert Lowe is ready to rain on the parade of his former boss and would-be prime minister.
Mr Lowe, 68, the millionaire former Southampton Football Club boss and MP for Great Yarmouth, was booted out of Reform UK and reported to police after being accused of bullying staff and making threats to party chairman Zia Yusuf.
He strenuously denied all allegations and the Metropolitan Police subsequently dropped an investigation.
He continues to claim it was retribution after criticising Farage’s leadership style as “messianic”.
Lowe, who sits as an independent MP, now leads Restore Britain. And, just like Reform, they are after the same voters.
The May 7 elections are too early for his new party, but its sights are set on something bigger, and it could just stop Reform seizing power at the general election.
It is fair to say there is no love lost between Farage and Lowe, a political old stager and the new kid on the block. And, as so often, it comes down to personalities.
Lowe called him a “coward and a viper” after he was “vilified and targeted” in a “brutal smear campaign for the sin of asking legitimate questions about the party’s direction, policies and leadership”.
He is testing the water on May 7 with candidates standing under the Great Yarmouth First flag, a local offshoot of the Restore Britain party he leads, but not contesting councils nationally… for now.
In another swipe at Reform he said: “I am not going to present to the British people thousands of candidates (at the local elections) who have not been properly vetted, interviewed or considered. That would be irresponsible and rash. We’ve seen what happens when new parties do that, and the voters get let down.
“Please be patient. I do not want to be in a position where we have individuals elected who do not understand the important responsibilities of local government.
“Paper candidates. Those with questionable histories. Opportunist careerists. Individuals who have no interest in working hard. Some even simply after the money. I do not want to present them to the British people.
“Look at Reform’s track record following its desperation to stand candidates – promising tax cuts, then hiking people’s council tax bills. A staggering 9% in one Reform council. 9%. Families cannot afford it. It is morally wrong, and I want no repeat of it.
“Let’s learn from their mistakes, not our own.
“We are going to do this right. Where we stand, we will aim to win. Where we win, we will properly represent those residents. We will put forward the right people, with the right ideas, and the right principles.”
Nigel Farage has fallen out with several former colleagues (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Latest Ipsos Political Pulse data shows Lowe with an 18% favourability rating and outperforming Farage, despite his higher overall profile recognition, in what Restore Britain says indicates a much stronger public response to his message.
Party membership now stands at around 132,000 and polling is not insignificant.
Clashes with Reform high command over illegal migration was the real reason Lowe was sidelined, sources suggest, with party bosses upset at his forthright approach to policy.
Incredibly, the issue of illegal migration had become a sticking point with its hierarchy – despite Farage describing the Channel small boats crisis as a “national security emergency”.
One point of disagreement was his repeated call to deport every single illegal migrant.
Lowe believes that if you are in the UK illegally, you must be deported. Those close to Farage were uncomfortable with his opinion.
He also irked Farage because he was popular. His broad appeal has won him millions of admirers on social media and a ringing endorsement from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
He also irritated his leader by going rogue in outlining a wide range of policy suggestions, including an action plan to inject life into Britain’s high streets, cementing his reputation as a common sense politician.
In short he was too high profile and was stealing Farage’s thunder. That he did not like.
Farage said Lowe “managed to fall out with all his parliamentary colleagues in one way or another”, adding: “We did our best to keep a lid on things but, in the end, containment strategies invariably fail.”
General election voting intention currently puts Reform on 25%, the Tories on 19%, and others, including Restore Britain and Advance UK, the party led by Ben Habib, another disgruntled former Farage protege, on 7%.
Reform will clean up on May 7 but that will only tell part of a long-running story.
Farage might soon win the latest battle, but may well end up losing the war and with it his lifelong ambition to make it to No 10.