A Lowe profile
The New Boys
, Issue 1630
Lowe's political career stretches back to the general election of 1997, when he stood for the Referendum party in the Cotswolds constituency, coming fourth with 6.6 percent of the vote. He played a bit part in the Vote Leave campaign and briefly won a seat for the Brexit party in the West Midlands at the 2019 European parliament elections. He also contested the 2024 Kingswood by-election for Reform UK, coming third. He won Great Yarmouth on 4 July by 1,426 votes over Labour.
Enter the Dragon
Lowe was educated at the Dragon Preparatory School in Oxford (current fees: £41,100 pa) and then at Radley College (£51,100 pa, VAT exempt). The ideal background for a non-elitist man of the people!
After Reading University, he went into the City to make his fortune at Morgan Grenfell, Deutsche Bank and Barings Bank, where he worked alongside notorious rogue trader Nick Leeson. He then entered the world of football to become the unpopular chairman of Southampton FC in 1996-2006 and again in 2008-09, before quitting with the club mired in administration. A favourite terrace chant in those days was: "Rupert Lowe's a wanker."
Currently active as a director or chairman in 13 corporate entities, Lowe was a co-director with Akshata Murty (aka Mrs Rishi Sunak) at Digme Fitness, which went bust in 2022 after taking £630,000 in furlough cash and owing creditors – including taxpayers – £6.1m.
Farm hands
His base is in the Cotswolds at his 550-acre farm and equestrian centre in the sleepy village of Withington. His wife, Nicky, is a member of Withington parish council. She frequently has to leave the room when planning applications submitted by Rupert's Ravenswell Farm have to be discussed.
In 2022, Lowe wished to build a £700,000 house on land in the area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) for a "key agricultural worker" linked to his farm (it was no shepherd's hut). Planning permission was refused, but Lowe only subsequently withdrew his appeal after it became clear there was no way the strict "key agricultural worker" planning requirement could be evidenced and met.
Street smarts
Shortly after winning the Great Yarmouth seat, Lowe promised to give his MP's salary to charitable causes. He has also written to Labour's police and crime commissioner for Norfolk, claiming Great Yarmouth is a crime dystopia where "women have been harassed and attacked by gangs of men, littering is rife, shoplifting almost seems to be tolerated... I want all to feel safe on the streets of Great Yarmouth, but particularly women."
Talking of feeling safe on the streets, following the recent riots Lowe was quick to put the blame where it surely belonged – not on the right-wing thugs who carried it out, but on immigrants cowering in their homes and mosques.
On X/Twitter he blamed the crisis on "mass migration" and reinforced the myth of "two-tier policing". In a GB News interview on 4 August he returned to his theme, claiming that "most of our problems emanate from immigration" and "at the end of the day I'm afraid a lot of them are not integrating into our society, they don't like our society, they don't like what we stand for".
A few days earlier he had even tweeted the court artist's sketch of the 17-year-old charged over the Southport stabbings, accompanied by an offensive comment that one commentator opined was an egregious contempt of court. The hon member for Great Yarmouth took the post down. But there will surely be more vile bile to come.
Next issue on sale: 25th September 2024
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WAGE LAVERY
In a debate on MPs and second jobs, Labour's Ian Lavery argued that the public "think that MPs are greedy". So what might they make of his own track record?
BRANDON ON BRAND
Former minister Brandon Lewis, who was making £410,000 a year from five extra jobs while still an MP, is also now chair of a controversial spin doctor.
RAYNER CHECK
Time to practise your planking: it's 2011 again! At least, there's a strong whiff of déjà vu about the new government's "get Britain building" housing plans.
DRAX AVOIDANCE
An early crisis looms for energy secretary Ed Miliband, who must decide what to do about the tree-burning, polluting electricity generator Drax.
TRUE BLUEPRINT
Tory leadership candidates are so desperate to suck up to the party's only recent electoral success that they're entering his land of make-believe.
INTERESTS IN CONFLICT
Two of the three reviewers in defence secretary John Healey's defence review are closely linked to the arms industry.
US-EYE
A progressive rather than a centrist, Tim Walz was a surprising choice as Kamala Harris's running mate that dismayed Democrat strategists.
GALLANT GESTURE
The UK government called a meeting between UK and Israeli defence ministers a push for peace – but Israel came away from it with a rather different take.
