OPINION
Rupert Lowe said Nigel Farage needed to learn 'how to delegate' as he criticised Reform's leadership in an interview last week (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
There is no question that Nigel Farage is one of the most successful campaigners and politicians of recent years. However, the last few days have seen Reform UK, his current political vehicle, in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
A public spat is being played out between the party and Rupert Lowe, its recently suspended MP for Great Yarmouth. Lowe is currently sitting as an independent MP after Reform withdrew the party whip. He has been accused of bullying and inappropriate behaviour towards staff, as well as threatening Reform UK’s chairman, Zia Yusuf, with physical violence.
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Lowe strongly denies these allegations. He has branded his treatment a “witch hunt”. On social media he has offered to meet Farage for dinner so the two of them can talk things over. But the unseemly spat threatens to upset Reforms’ meteoric rise.
Its roots appear to lie in an interview Lowe gave last week in which he criticised the party leadership by suggesting Reform needed to change from being a “protest party led by the Messiah”. He also said that Farage needed to “learn to delegate”.
Lowe is a highly successful businessman and has proven himself to be an effective politician in the House of Commons since his arrival last July. But it’s questionable the wisdom behind making such public comments and its damage to party unity.
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It has been suggested relations between the two men began to sour earlier this year when Elon Musk claimed Farage was not up to the job as leader and took to social media to suggest that Lowe would be a better replacement.
But this is not the first time Farage has fallen out with a close colleague. Indeed, his political career is littered with the bodies of former friends and colleagues, often to the detriment of the movement. Now some pundits are wondering if history is repeating itself with Reform.
Conservative and Labour voters, needless to say, are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Reform in trouble as they are terrified of its threat. Reform fans are simply dispirited and depressed by what they are seeing.
Their hope for political change is currently seriously dented. Working at GB News over the weekend, there were thousands of messages from viewers imploring Farage and Lowe to simply “sort it out” for the sake of the party.
There have also been various people popping up all over the media who have previously worked with Farage but no longer do so. They claim he finds it hard to relinquish control of the party or that he does not like others getting too much limelight. Some have described the party as a ‘Farage cult’.
Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage together in 2020 (Image: Getty)
Ben Habib, former deputy co-leader of the party, and Howard Cox, the party’s London Mayoral candidate, have both left Reform since Farage became leader. Others who have previously worked with Farage in UKIP and The Brexit Party, his previous political outfits, have also been keen to highlight how difficult he can be at times.
Which begs the question; how much of this is down to Farage?
Successful politicians can be divisive and demanding. All politicians have egos and, in my experience, they all believe they can do a better job than their boss.
There is a whisper around Westminster that Farage is often tetchy and impatient with colleagues as a result of recurring pain after surviving a plane crash in 2010. I was there that day and helped drag him from the wreckage.
Both he and the pilot went through hell as an election day stunt went disastrously wrong. But I am not sure that Westminster whisper has much credence. Lesser men would have given up the political scene and opted for a less arduous way of life, but not Farage.
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If anything, it made him stronger and more determined. He went on to give UKIP its first elected MPs in 2014 and led the Brexit Party to victory in the 2019 European Elections.
Last year, under his leadership, Reform UK returned five MPs to the House of Commons. Some critics say the party would have been on course for such success without Farage, but it is hard to see how. And here lies the problem.
Farage is seen as the main face and voice of Reform UK, but for the party to grow this must change. This requires loyalty and compromise. Either way, millions of Reform UK voters are hoping this spat can be overcome. If not, it could well hinder the future of the party.