Rupert Lowe entered Parliament with a swagger in July last year, as the new MP for Great Yarmouth, along with the four other Reform UK MPs who had won seats.
Nigel Farage, the leader and unchallenged figurehead of a party that had received more than 14% of the national vote, took center stage that day.
However, an intervention by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, may be about to lift 67-year-old Mr Lowe out of the shadow of the Clacton MP.
On Sunday, the South African-born owner of the social networking platform X dropped his support for Mr Farage, claiming that he “doesn’t have what it takes,” and appeared to back Mr Lowe as a prospective replacement.
“I have not met Rupert Lowe, but his statements online that I have read so far make a lot of sense,” he said.
Mr Lowe was elected as an MP for the coastal town of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk during the general election, and his triumph was one of Reform UK’s more difficult victories.
His aim was to defeat a Tory advantage of over 17,000 votes in a seat that had previously been split three ways.
With Labour coming in second and the Tories third, Reform’s victory in Yarmouth was perhaps more difficult.
Prior to the election, the former business mogul established himself as a political outsider.
In an interview with ITV News Anglia ahead of the vote, he suggested that lawmakers should bring real-life experience to the Commons, saying, “I think we are as a country in need of some proper people from outside of the political establishment.”
Mr Lowe, who has a banking and finance experience in the City of London, served as chairman of Southampton Football Club from 1996 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2009, during which time the club competed in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup Final in 2003.
After more than a decade at the leadership of the south coast club, Mr Lowe left after overseeing the construction of a new 32,000-seater stadium, which he termed as a “engine” for the club’s future.
He has several other commercial interests outside of politics, including stakes in a gold mining company in Western Australia, an online pet insurer, and a heat pump maker, to name a few, all of which are declared on Parliament’s Register of Interests.
Mr Lowe did have a brief political career as a Brexit Party MEP in the Midlands, having been elected in 2019 for only six months before the UK’s MEPs lost their jobs due to Brexit.
Since becoming an MP, he indicated that he would donate his parliamentary salary to charity. He has been probably more vociferous online than in person, constantly writing on X.
Mr Lowe, a Brexit supporter, has been open about his views on immigration, recently stating that “open borders put British women in danger”.
Last week, as Mr Musk criticized the government’s handling of grooming gangs, Mr Lowe wrote, “We must stop harbouring foreign nationals who viscerally hate Britain, commit serious crimes, and rape our children.” If that means being labeled as a ‘racist’? Then so be it; the word has lost all meaning. Deporting these people should not be a controversial decision.”
Mr Musk simply responded to his message with “Yes.”
Mr Lowe has spoken in Parliament about SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] in the East of England, as well as posed questions about fishing and farming in the House of Commons.
In November, he made news when he claimed compensation from China for the emergence of what he called the “man-made” Covid-19 virus.
MPs can also submit written questions to government agencies, and Rupert Lowe has probably asked the most (632 in six months).
That’s approximately ten for each parliamentary sitting day since the election.
In response to Mr Musk’s intervention, Mr Lowe told ITV News Anglia that he was flattered to be considered for leadership.
However, he says he fully supports Nigel Farage as party leader, stating that he only wants to do what is best for his country and constituency.
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