‘I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online [...] make a lot of sense’
Reports had suggested a $100 million donation was on the table for Reform, with meetings taking place at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Nigel Farage even referred to Elon Musk as a ‘hero’, despite stating that the £80m donation figure was somewhat “overexaggerated”.
However, just when things seemed to be going swimmingly between them, over the weekend, the tech billionaire stated that Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead Reform UK. Farage has suggested that this was due to a disagreement over Musk’s support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Why is Elon Musk talking about Rupert Lowe?
Despite not having met Rupert Lowe, the Reform MP for Great Yarmouth, Elon Musk has now said that he could make a good leader for the right-wing party.
In response to a post on an X account asking about Lowe taking over, Musk replied: “I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense.”
Responding to Musk, Lowe said: “I thank Elon for his kind comments.
“I just want to do what is right for my constituency and my country – that is my only interest. Nigel is leader of Reform.”
Who is Rupert Lowe and what are his views?
Rupert Lowe was elected as Reform MP for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in the July 2024 general election.
A farmer owner himself, Lowe has been Reform UK’s Business and Agriculture spokesperson since 2023.
Lowe has multiple jobs in addition to his role as Great Yarmouth MP. He is a director of pharmaceutical company Biopharma Process Systems, which received over £140,000 in taxpayer-funded furlough money during the pandemic despite the company making almost £8 million in profit.
He is also a director at Alto Energy and Dripping Rock, a freshwater fishing company, as well as at three sports companies. He also owns a company called J Brand Limited, which offers data-related services.
Between 1996 and 2009, Lowe was chair of Southampton Football Club. He became chair following a reverse takeover by Southampton FC of a nursing home business that he owned.
Southampton manager Graeme Souness, who left shortly after Mr Lowe’s appointment, told reporters at the time: “You tell me if there is anyone else in football by the name of Rupert”.
He was also unpopular with some fans, who had a chant for him: “Swing Lowe, Swing Rupert Lowe”.
A pro-Brexit MEP
Rupert Lowe is a staunch supporter of Brexit and served as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2019 to 2020.
Lowe has said that Labour’s pledge to reset ties with the EU is “a ploy to drag us closer to the EU” and has said that the chancellor Rachel Reeves “needs to respect the British people’s decision in 2016”.
The Great Yarmouth MP has recently posted on X claiming that “multiculturalism has failed Britain”, adding that “if foreign nationals want to live in our country, they need to live by our laws, speak our language, and integrate into our society”.
Grooming gang national inquiry
Lowe has joined Elon Musk in calling for a national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal, suggesting a link between ethnicity and child sexual exploitation cases.
This comes despite 2020 Home Office research highlighting “significant limitations” in drawing conclusions about ethnicity’s connection to such offenses. The research also found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white.
Regarding Tommy Robinson, Rupert Lowe posted on X when the far-right activist was arrested in July last year after organising a demonstration in central London.
The Reform UK party MP Rupert Lowe, responding to the arrest, tweeted: “Is this action proportionate and in line with how the streets of London have recently been policed? More details are urgently required.”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was also due to appear in court the following week on separate charges of contempt of court for repeating libellous allegations against a young Syrian refugee.
He is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court due to these false claims.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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