# Rupert Lowe says Reform forcing him out because he poses threat to Farage

Great Yarmouth MP says ‘a poppy that stood up too tall has been chopped down’ in lastest escalation of bitter row

[](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/10/rupert-lowe-says-reform-forcing-him-out-because-he-poses-threat-to-farage?CMP=share_btn_url)

Rupert Lowe has accused  of suspending him for being a “tall poppy” who threatened to overshadow Nigel Farage in the latest escalation of  that is tearing the party apart.

Lowe said it was highly unlikely he would be allowed to return to the party, which he accused of trying to “blacken” his reputation.

In a YouTube interview with the rightwing commentator Dan Wootton, Lowe left open the possibility of him joining the Conservatives or Ukip but said he had not taken any decisions about his future.

He suggested he was being forced out of Reform because he posed a threat to Farage, saying that “as in the past, a poppy that stood up too tall has been chopped down”.

“You’ve got to look at the pattern of relationships with Nigel throughout his career … Almost anybody who is in his view either threatening him or is capable enough to take over from him, he tends to fall out with them.”

Lowe said he owed a “huge debt to Elon Musk because without my X account which gives me a voice this may well have ended very differently”.

He also suggested that the  chair, Zia Yusuf, who is Muslim, may have disliked the way he talked about “mass deportations” or “Pakistani rape gangs”.

“Is it because Nigel thought I was getting too powerful? Is it because Zia Yusuf thought I was talking too much about deportation or mass deportation, or the Pakistani rape gangs? I simply don’t know,” he said.

The Great Yarmouth MP, who has tacked to the right of Farage on migration, said the party had asked him to  he planned to make at a rally in Kemi Badenoch’s North West Essex constituency.

The party’s internal strife erupted on Friday when Lowe had the whip suspended over bullying complaints made by two female staff members and separate allegations he had threatened Yusuf with violence.

Lowe has strongly denied the claims, saying the bullying complaints did not relate to him personally and involved staff members who themselves faced disciplinary proceedings. He has also denied threatening Yusuf with violence and questioned why a police complaint was only made three months after the alleged incident. The Metropolitan police have said they are assessing an allegation of ”verbal threats”.

Lowe called on the party to retract and apologise to him on Monday after pointing to a social media post by the former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, who said that one of the women alleged to have made claims of bullying was his former parliamentary aide.

Bridgen wrote on X: “She has told me that her original complaint had nothing to do with Rupert personally and was related to the actions of another member of his staff. I have her permission to post this tweet.”

[](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/10/the-guardian-view-on-nigel-farage-not-even-donald-trump-is-as-damaging-to-reform-as-its-own-leader?CMP=share_btn_url)

The Guardian view on Nigel Farage: not even Donald Trump is as damaging to Reform as its own leader | Editorial
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