Suspended Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said Nigel Farage “must never become prime minister” after the party leader allegedly called his behaviour “disgusting” and “contemptible” in leaked private messages.
Mr Farage accused Mr Lowe of “damaging the party just before elections” in a WhatsApp conversation with a member of the Great Yarmouth MP’s staff, the BBC reported.
The messages were sent after Mr Lowe, who was suspended from the party amid allegations he made threats of violence to its chairman Zia Yusuf, had criticised Mr Farage in a Daily Mail interview, according to the broadcaster.
In his latest attack on Reform, Mr Lowe said: “These messages unquestionably prove that the Reform leadership has zero integrity.”
He added: “I will not work with the rotten and deceitful Reform leadership … Nigel Farage must never be prime minister.”
The staff member, who is not currently a party member, had asked Mr Farage why Reform had not allowed a lawyer to complete an investigation into allegations about the MP’s conduct before removing the whip.
Mr Farage said: “Because he is damaging the party just before elections. Disgusting.”
When it was suggested the investigation was a response to his criticism of the leadership, the party leader and Clacton MP replied: “We are definitely damaged and within two weeks of nominations. Awful.”
In another message he said the Great Yarmouth MP was “contemptible” and elsewhere described the Mail interview in which Mr Lowe called Reform a “protest party” led by “the Messiah” as a “side issue”.
Reform’s former deputy leader, Ben Habib, claimed the party is “imploding” under Nigel Farage’s leadership.
Mr Habib said: “The polls may not be registering this but the party is imploding under Nigel Farage and [chairman] Zia Yusuf.”
It comes as new polling suggests the fallout from the Great Yarmouth MP’s ousting is now hurting Reform. The weekly Techne UK tracker poll revealing the Tories level with Reform on 23 per cent each for the first time in two months.
With Mr Farage in the US this week, the row he has left behind in the UK is beginning to hurt them in the polls.
According to Techne UK’s weekly tracker poll for The Independent, Reform is down 1 point for the second week in a row while the Tories are up 1 for the second week running. It means that the two parties are level pegging for the first time since 24 January in a boost for the beleaguered Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Importantly for the Tories, they have closed the gap with Reform among voters aged over 45 while Labour now enjoys a four point lead over both on 27 per cent. The Lib Dems remain on 14 per cent and Greens 7 per cent.
Techne’s chief executive Michela Morizzo said: “Recognising some of the recent internal turmoil of Reform UK, Nigel Farage’s party drops one point of national vote share. By comparison the week Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives announce their policy renewal programme they climb one point drawing back level with Reform UK.
“Geo political problems of course dominate at this time and Sir Keir Starmer party enjoys still high visibility. Among the dark and light blue parties however, it is still difficult to say how the situation will evolve in the coming weeks.”
There are more problems for Reform, who have seen a constituency chairs and other officers nationwide quit after Mr Lowe’s suspension.
This includes activists in the Isle of Wight constituency, who resigned as branch officers in protest on Thursday.
In a message on X, outgoing Isle of Wight chair Sarah Morris said: “One of the fundamental reasons I got involved in the first place was to take back control of our lives from politicians and unelected bureaucrats. Letting the majority decide, not the minority. I stayed loyal for too long, and should have seen the signs.”
She added: “I feel like Reform has been stolen from me, by Nigel and Zia. The Reform movement is ours, not theirs to sell off and play with as and when they want.
“I also feel the vetting process is neither efficient nor transparent. Who is really deciding who is acceptable, and who isn’t, and using what criteria? At branch level, we are volunteering our precious time and utilising the extremely kind financial donations from supporters. Yet, Zia stands there and takes all the credit for the branch formations whilst setting aside the very people who actually did all the work!”
Reform have declined to comment about the texts.