Clash over Rupert Lowe highlights split on direction of party, and threatens Farage’s ambition to become UK’s main rightwing force

On the face of it, the clash at the top of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is a battle of egos.

When Rupert Lowe, the MP touted by Elon Musk as a potential Reform leader, had the temerity to criticise Farage in an interview, the party’s machinery quickly moved against him.