Ex-Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe “Open” To Joining The Tories
Ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons | May 2025 (Alamy)
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Rupert Lowe says he is “open” to joining the Conservative Party after meeting Robert Jenrick for a private lunch in Mayfair last Thursday.
Lowe met with Jenrick at the popular 5 Hertford Street private members club where the pair discussed Lowe’s political future, PoliticsHome understands.
This is not the first time the pair has met for lunch, previously dining out together only a couple of months ago at Lowe’s private member’s club.
The former Reform UK MP, who split from Nigel Farage’s party in March, previously suggested he would set up his own political party to rival Reform but after meeting Jenrick told PoliticsHome "all options are open”.
However, sources close to Jenrick insist that the shadow justice secretary was not trying to negotiate a defection.
Alex Burghart, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has previously opened the door to Lowe joining the Tories, saying “It’s not a ‘no’.”
Earlier this month the Great Yarmouth MP said he spoke to the Tories "all the time" but that the party needed to "reform" in order to become a "powerful force" again in British politics.
The meeting took place days before an assault on Kemi Badenoch’s leadership in the Sunday papers, which revealed Tory MPs are plotting to remove the Conservative leader.
This comes after the party suffered a drubbing at the local elections earlier this month, losing more than 600 councillors and all of the councils they controlled. Last week the Tories slumped to fourth place in the opinion polls, behind Reform, Labour and the Liberal Democrats raising fresh questions about Badenoch’s leadership.
Jenrick and Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, are seen as the top candidates for a leadership challenge.
Lowe was ousted from Reform after he was reported to police in March for alleged verbal threats to the party chairman Zia Yusuf. He also faced claims of bullying against two female staff.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it would not bring criminal charges over the allegations due to insufficient evidence and said its legal test for prosecution had not been met.
Lowe has described the claims as "vexatious" and suggested it came after he accused Farage of acting like a “messiah”.
The Reform leader has said there is "no way back" into Reform for the suspended MP.
