Nigel Jones

Is snobbery behind Rupert Lowe’s row with Nigel Farage? 

Rupert Lowe (Credit: Getty images)

One aspect of the furious row that has split Reform UK which has yet to receive the attention it deserves is the part the good old British subjects of class and snobbery have played. The row erupted last week after Reform MP Rupert Lowe voiced mild criticism of party leader Nigel Farage in a Daily Mail interview, accusing him of being a ‘Messiah’ and voicing doubts about whether he had it in him to become prime minister.

The two men’s relative differences in wealth may have added to the animosity between them

Farage promptly hit back by saying that Lowe was ‘completely and utterly wrong’. The row then escalated to toxic levels when another two of the five Reform MPs, Richard Tice and Lee Anderson, rallied around Farage. A member of Lowe’s office was accused of bullying two women staffers, and Lowe himself was accused of allegedly threatening party chairman Zia Yusuf – a Farage ally – with physical violence.

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