Reform UK’s online membership counter, set up over the new year to boast as they overtook the , has begun falling after Rupert Lowe’s expulsion. On Saturday afternoon, just shy of 24 hours after Mr Lowe was ousted and reported to the police, the ticker stood at 219,637.
However it flatlined over the weekend, before staff began processing emails from furious supporters demanding their membership be ripped up as a result of treatment. Around three hours later the ticker has fallen to 219,557. However a senior party insider has told the Express that over 2,000 members emailed the party in light of Friday’s shocking events demanding they leave the party and be deleted from its supporter record.
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Rupert Lowe’s expulsion has hit Reform’s momentum (Image: Getty)
A spokesman denied this figure.
This morning an ally of Mr Lowe told this paper that the Great Yarmouth MP “will not go quiet” following the allegations, in a warning to his former party.
It is not known whether Mr Lowe is among those no longer listed as a member of the party.
The wash-up from last week’s chaos is the first time since the election that Reform has showed a sign of weakness, with the visibly delighted by the split.
A senior member of the Conservative shadow cabinet has revealed they have already been in touch with Mr Lowe, as the official opposition eyes a potential major addition to their ranks.
While they acknowledged Mr Lowe is not very keen on the , they suggested this could change should Reform fully burn its bridges with the MP.
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Reform’s membership ticker has fallen since Saturday (Image: Reform UK)
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has also been making overtures to the ousted Reform MP, this morning defending him against slanderous claims he is suffering from dementia.
Mr Lowe said he had been informed “by a reliable source that ‘senior Reform figures’ have been briefing journalists that I have dementia… this is sick. What they are doing to me is disgusting.”
Mr Philp described the claim as “despicable behaviour towards Rupert Lowe”.
This weekend deputy leader suggested Mr Lowe may not be welcomed back into the party regardless of the outcome of both an internal bullying inquiry, and a policy investigation into claims he made physical threats against the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf.
Asked if he’ll be welcomed back in the event of an exoneration, Mr Tice refused to be drawn on the matter.
He told GB News: “The whip has been withdrawn, and we want team players that will unite.”
“The whip has been withdrawn, and that should be the assumption. We’re driving forwards. We’re not holding back.
“We’ve got a job to do. We’ve got hundreds of seats to win in May. We’re not going to be distracted by this noise. And you know what? I don’t think the British people will be either.”