Storm in a teacup or symptom of a deeper crisis? Reform UK, the British far-right party led by Nigel Farage, which overtook the Conservatives and even the ruling Labour Party in the polls at the start of 2025, has been going through a turbulent period since its founder Farage expelled fellow MP Rupert Lowe from the party on Friday, March 7.

Lowe, a businessman who briefly served as a member of the European Parliament (in 2019 and 2020) before being elected to the House of Commons in July 2024, has been accused by Farage and his entourage of threatening to physically attack Reform UK party chairman Zia Yusuf. Yusuf also claimed to have received complaints of harassment from people working in Lowe's parliamentary team. Lowe's conduct has been reported to the police.

Pending the outcome of a just-launched police investigation, Lowe denied all allegations against him and claimed to be the victim of a witch-hunt. It's true that his dismissal from the party came just after he declared, in the columns of the Daily Mail, that Reform UK was "a protest party" headed by a "messianic" leader. Farage "has to learn to delegate, as not everything can go through one person," he added.

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