Reform UK’s internal row has been reignited as the party was served with papers as part of a legal action being taken by staff for the MP Rupert Lowe.
Lowe’s staff are taking legal action after Reform published an internal report on bullying allegations in which they were named.
The libel action is separate from an announcement earlier this month by Lowe that he would be suing Nigel Farage and two other senior party figures after they accused him of bullying staff and making verbal threats.
Lowe, who now sits as an independent, said he was suing Farage along with Lee Anderson, Reform’s chief whip, and Zia Yusuf, the party chair, for comments he said had “caused serious harm to my reputation”.
The Great Yarmouth MP was suspended by the party after Anderson and Yusuf issued a joint statement saying Reform had “received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying” in Lowe’s offices, and alleging he had at least twice made threats of violence against Yusuf.
The papers served on Reform on Wednesday were on behalf of four people working for Lowe.
“The action follows the publication of an internal report commissioned by Reform UK which publicly named them when there was no legal basis for doing so,” a law firm acting for them said in a statement.
One of the four individuals was pregnant, it is understood.
“Our clients wish to make it clear that they strenuously deny the allegations made against them in the report and feel compelled to make this statement to correct the public record,” the statement said.
The four were seeking redress to reflect the impact of the publication on them and were “fully prepared” to commence legal proceedings in court, it added.
Reform UK declined to comment.
Lowe has vehemently rejected all the allegations, arguing that he was targeted after he used a media interview to call for changes to Reform so it was centred less around Farage’s “messianic” leadership.
The Metropolitan police said in March they were investigating the alleged threats, which were said to have been made between December 2024 and February 2025.
Nearer the end of the month, Reform released a report produced by a barrister it had hired to look into the claims of bullying, which said two women had given “credible” evidence of bullying or harassment by Lowe and his team.
