A Reform UK MP has accused Nigel Farage of acting like the “messiah” as splits within the party burst into the open.

Rupert Lowe said Farage must “learn to delegate” and that Reform needed to “start behaving as if we are leading and not merely protesting”.

His comments, made in an interview with the Daily Mail, mark the first time a Reform UK MP has openly criticised the party’s leader.

Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, said: “We have to change from being a protest party led by the Messiah into being a properly structured party with a front bench, which we don’t have.

“We have to start behaving as if we are leading and not merely protesting.

“Nigel is a messianic figure who is at the core of everything but he has to learn to delegate, as not everything can go through one person.”

Lowe went on: “We have to start developing policy which is going to change the way we govern.

“I’m not going to be by Nigel’s side at the next election unless we have a proper plan to change the way we govern from top to bottom.”

But speaking to the Telegraph, Farage hit back at Lowe’s criticism of his leadership style.

He said: “It’s difficult to have a front bench with only five MPs, isn’t it? And he’s one of them.”

Asked about Lowe’s specific criticism of his delegation skills, Farage said: “Delegate? I’ve delegated everything.”

He added: “If we had 30 MPs, we’d have a front bench, but with five, we can’t.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “This internecine warfare at the top of Reform just goes to show that their MPs are more concerned with their own egos, and advancing their personal ambitions, rather than standing up for the British people.

“With one of Farage’s most senior MPs doubting his leadership abilities and admitting that Reform is a protest party with no plan, it is clear that Reform are not serious, and will always put self-interest above our national interest.”