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Rupert Lowe has seized on new claims that the allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by female members of staff “had nothing to do with him”.
Mr Lowe has suggested he has been stitched up by the party leadership, including Nigel Farage, with the Great Yarmouth MP telling The Independent that he is a victim of “total lies” against him.
But it came after the top lawyer brought in to investigate the allegations denied his claims that she said there was “zero credible evidence” against him in a bullying probe.
The King’s Counsel KC hired to examine allegations against Mr Lowe denied telling the MP she had expressed “shock and dismay” over the investigation.
Mr Lowe has had the Reform whip removed after the party said it was investigating him over claims of “serious bullying” and “targeting of female staff”. It said it had also reported him to police over alleged threats made towards the party’s chair.
However, former Tory and Reclaim MP Andrew Bridgen, who previously employed one of the members of staff who made the complaint and recommended her to Mr Lowe, claimed on Monday he had received her permission to say that the MP had “nothing to do with” the complaint personally.
He said: “The plot thickens. One of my former parliamentary aides went on to work for Rupert Lowe – she is one of the staff involved in these allegations against him. She has told me that her original complaint had nothing to do with Rupert personally and was related to the actions of another member of his staff. I have her permission to post this tweet.”
Mr Lowe then responded: “Finally. The main staff member involved has confirmed that her allegations are NOT about me. The second staff member’s allegations are also NOT about me. Reform must now retract and apologise.”
Then Sky News reported to have spoken to a female member of Mr Lowe’s staff who claimed the allegations against him were “nonsense”.
The woman, who asked not to be named, described him as a “good man” who is being subjected to a “horrific and unfair” ordeal, according to Sky News.
Another of his employees is reported to have told Sky News: “Rupert is a good man who does not deserve any of this. He has done nothing wrong.
“The allegations aren’t against Rupert. I’ve not seen any evidence of any bullying from anyone in Rupert’s office. These claims are nonsense.
“This is wrong what they’re doing to Rupert. He’s nice to everybody.
“What they’re putting him through is horrific and unfair. They are vexatious complaints. There has never been any bullying in the office.”
Over the weekend, Mr Lowe insisted the claims are “false and untrue”, saying he is the victim of a “political assassination”.
But the KC investigating him has intervened as a result of him claiming to quote her in his defence.
“I have seen a number of statements made by Mr Lowe MP which are attributed to me and which describe my reactions to the process conducted by the party into the allegations made against both Mr Lowe MP and his constituency manager,” the lawyer told the BBC.
She added: “I find myself in the unfortunate and regrettable position of having to make this statement to correct the record.”
The senior lawyer, who has not been named by Reform, clarified that she has “not expressed either ‘dismay’ or ‘shock’ at any time as to the process.
“Nor have I said ‘There is zero credible evidence against [Mr Lowe]’, let alone said this ‘repeatedly’,” she said.
Reform’s chief whip Lee Anderson highlighted the KC’s intervention, claiming she had “publicly rebuked Mr Lowe for making false claims”.
He added: “As the KC’s statement makes clear, the written complaints include allegations about the conduct of Mr Lowe.
“I ask that Mr Lowe respects the independence of the investigation and refrains from making further false public statements.”
The KC’s extraordinary public rebuke is the latest twist in the Reform civil war, which has been playing out behind the scenes but publicly exploded last Friday.
After Mr Lowe used a Daily Mail interview to accuse Reform leader Nigel Farage of having “messianic” tendencies, Mr Farage hit back to say there would not have been “a cat’s chance in hell” of Mr Lowe being elected without him.
Within just hours, the party removed the whip from Mr Lowe and published an extraordinary statement saying it was investigating Mr Lowe over allegations of “serious bullying” and “targeting of female staff”.
It also revealed it has reported Mr Lowe to the police, claiming he had made threats of physical violence against party chair Zia Yusuf on at least two occasions.
Mr Lowe claimed to have spoken “at length” with Reform’s investigating lawyer, adding that she was “dismayed that this statement [by Reform] has been made”.
“There is no credible evidence against me, as the KC has stated on numerous occasions,” Mr Lowe claimed.
But, setting the record straight, the KC stressed that she had not told Mr Lowe there was no evidence against him or that she was “shocked” by the party’s statement.
Mr Lowe revealed that on Friday night she sent him the following statement: “I advised that you should simply say that the party was precipitous to state that these allegations had been made without also saying that the party has commissioned an independent investigation and the investigation has not yet got underway to look at all the evidence and evaluate its veracity.”
He added: “Ever since this malicious attack on my reputation was launched, all I have asked for from both Reform and the KC is credible evidence against me.
“None has been provided. It still hasn’t. The KC has said she has been ‘chasing’ for that. I have received nothing.”
Mr Lowe said the lawyer is a “charming lady” who is “trying to do her job in the very difficult position that Reform has put her in”.
“I will not have my name dragged through the mud as part of a political assassination because I dared to question Nigel Farage,” he said.
He added: “You have to stand up to bullies, and I am doing exactly that.”
The infighting between Mr Lowe and Mr Farage comes after polling suggested that the party may have hit their ceiling, with a surge in support since the general election coming to an end three weeks ago.
The latest weekly Techne UK poll for The Independent puts Reform on 25 per cent for the third week in a row and has Labour pulling ahead by three points on 28 per cent after praise for Sir Keir Starmer following a week of diplomatic talks over the Ukraine crisis.
A Reform spokesperson declined to comment but referred The Independent to the comments by the unnamed KC investigating Mr Lowe.
