The UK could be about to gain a new right-wing party to rival Reform UK, as opponents of Nigel Farage plot to weaken his influence.
Farage was credited with turning Reform into a viable threat to mainstream parties when he sensationally returned as leader during last year’s election.
His candidates ended up coming second place in 98 constituencies and won in a further five – including his own chosen seat of Clacton, meaning he made it to the House of Commons on his eighth attempt.
But less than nine months on, things seem to be turning a little sour.
In the past few days, one of Reform’s five MPs, businessman Rupert Lowe, has been suspended from the party amid a bitter row.
He described Farage as a ‘messianic figure’ in an interview with the Daily Mail last week, and the following day he lost the whip and was reported to the police over accusations of verbal threats.
Reform said the decision to suspend Lowe had nothing to do with his comments in the Mail. Lowe has strongly denied all the claims against him.
The Great Yarmouth MP has now been offered an intriguing prospect by someone else with an axe to grind against Nigel Farage: Ben Habib, the one-time Reform deputy leader who was ousted after the election.
Asked by the Daily Telegraph whether he could return to politics if Lowe split from Reform permanently, he said: ‘You’ve got to be at the ballot box and hold the electoral system to account… so the answer is yes, I think.’
A new political group helmed by Lowe and Habib could have at least one significant backer, according to the Financial Times.
The newspaper cited allies of Elon Musk as saying the billionaire may be prepared to throw his weight behind a credible alternative to Reform, following his own high-profile spat with Farage in January.
When Musk declared on his social media site X that he did not believe Farage has ‘what it takes’ to lead the party, his follow-up posts suggested Lowe – who has backed controversial measures like mass deportations from the UK – would be more satisfactory for him.
Whether a splinter group would be able to have a bigger impact among the general public is a very different question, though.
Despite his popularity on X, Lowe is nowhere near as widely recognised as Farage, who has been one of the UK’s most famous politicians for more than a decade.
But a poll released this afternoon suggests there could be an opening for someone to cause a headache for the party leader.
The YouGov survey revealed a third of Reform voters think the party would do better with someone else in charge.
Another third think the party would be doing worse without Farage as leader, while a final third either think it would be doing just as well or say they don’t know.
It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the man who led Reform UK to come third in vote share at the July 4 election – but his critics may say it’s the only way to push any higher.
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