More trouble for Nigel Farage...
Reform UK’s woes are continuing with reports that suspended MP Rupert Lowe could join forces with a former party deputy leader who was also booted out by Farage to form a new breakaway right-wing party.
In what will cause a headache for Farage ahead of local elections in May, which are seen as a major test for Reform, former Brexit party MEP Ben Habib, an outspoken critic of Farage, has refused to rule out setting up a breakaway party with Lowe, with whom he is ‘constantly in touch’ with.
Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth, was suspended by the party, after accusations of bullying made by two women and alleged threats made against Reform’s chair Zia Yusuf.
Some have questioned the timing of the announcement, as it came the day after Mr Lowe appeared to question Nigel Farage’s leadership of the party. Mr Lowe has denied all the allegations.
In an interview with the Daily Mail last week, Lowe accused Farage of acting like the “messiah” as splits within the party burst into the open. Lowe also said that Farage must “learn to delegate” and that Reform needed to “start behaving as if we are leading and not merely protesting”.
Habib, who ran for Reform in last year’s Wellingborough and Rushden by-election, quit the party last year citing concerns over the way it was run. Speaking to the Telegraph, Habib said he and Lowe were “in politics for the same reason”.
When asked if he would consider a return to front-line politics if Mr Lowe were to split from the party, he told The Telegraph: “Ultimately the reason I joined Reform and the reason I stood for Reform in Wellingborough is because the only way you can make a difference is electorally.”
He added: “You’ve got to be at the ballot box and hold the electoral system to account… so the answer is yes, I think.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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