Ousted Reform MP Rupert Lowe has not ruled out joining the Conservatives or starting his own party to challenge Nigel Farage at the next election.
Mr Lowe, the independent MP for Great Yarmouth, said he spoke to the Tories “all the time” but that the party needed to “reform” in order to become a “powerful force” again in British politics.
He was speaking to Sky News’ political correspondent Ali Fortescue a day after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it was not charging him following allegations of making threats towards Reform chair Zia Yusuf.
Mr Lowe, who joined parliament after last July’s general election under Reform, was suspended by the party and reported to police following the accusations, which he denied.
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The party also claimed it had received complaints from two female employees about bullying in his constituency offices, which are now subject to a parliamentary investigation.
Mr Lowe, the former chair of Southampton Football Club, has denied wrongdoing on both accusations and has claimed he is the victim of a witch hunt after speaking out against party leader Nigel Farage in the media.
Mr Lowe told Ali Fortescue he was the victim of a “political assassination attempt which has failed” as he accused Mr Farage of leading “the cult of Nigel”.
Asked whether he felt “vindicated” by the CPS decision not to charge him, he said: ” I knew I hadn’t done anything, so therefore I didn’t worry too much. But, you know, there’s always uncertainty – and as an innocent, law-abiding 67-year-old with a completely clean record, it was all new to me.”
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Reform UK row explained
The row between Reform and Mr Lowe broke out in March after the latter gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which he said it was “too early to know” if Mr Farage will become prime minister and warned Reform remains a “protest party led by the Messiah” under the Clacton MP.
Mr Farage then hit back at the ousted MP, claiming that he had dented the unity of Reform by “unloading a barrage of criticisms against our operations and its main actors”.
In an article for the Daily Telegraph in March, the Reform leader wrote: “If the last general election taught us anything, it is that the public does not like political parties that engage in constant infighting.”
In his interview with Sky News, Mr Lowe went on to criticise Reform as a “bunch of rank amateurs who don’t know which way is up” and suggested he could take the party to court if he did not receive an apology.
“It will all come out in the fullness of time, probably in court,” he said.
“I’ve given them a chance to pay my legal costs and apologise if they don’t do that, we’ll be in the High Court, and it’ll cost an awful lot of money. And they will lose.”
Mr Lowe singled out Mr Farage in particular for criticism, saying that although he believed the Reform leader had “a lot of strengths in terms of his ability to communicate”, he questioned the party’s lack of policies.
“Winning the election is only half of the equation,” he said.
“There’s no point in doing a Boris [Johnson], and having an 80-seat majority and doing the square root of diddly squat with it, which is what he did.
“So I said to Nigel, we need a structure – we need a shadow cabinet, we need policy, we need a plan and we need to know and tell the people what we’re going to do. Until we’ve got that, we haven’t got anything. So that’s the ultimate disagreement between us.”
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He added: “He wasn’t interested in policy. He’s surrounded by sycophants who arguably are quite lightweight and whose idea… is to make up policy over a pint in the Marquess of Granby [pub], and to have a press conference the following day. That’s not how we’re going to sort Britain out.”
Turning to his future in politics and whether he could join the Conservatives, Mr Lowe said: “Look, I speak to the Tories all the time. There’s some very, very good young Tories, but… I don’t think the structure of the Tory party is right for them.”
On whether he could set up his own party to rival Reform, he said: “I don’t know yet – I may, so I haven’t made my mind up. I’m not going to leave the field. I’m going to finish off what I started.
“Reform is skin deep.”
Reform UK declined to comment when approached by Sky News. Mr Farage has also been approached for comment.
