Starmer scraps NHS England, brings health service under ministerial control

IT took Nigel Farage 30 years to get elected as an MP until the voters of Clacton sent him to the Commons on his eighth attempt last summer. Having broken through by getting five Reform MPs, Farage has taken every opportunity to stoke the media hype in which supporters fantasise and his critics fear a populist wave could sweep him all the way into Downing Street next time. But there has been something of a reality check this month – with the new party splitting as relationships broke down between the leader and Rupert Lowe, the former Southampton FC chairman elected in Great Yarmouth.

The Farage-Lowe battle has many dimensions. It can be seen as a personality clash of political egos – which escalated after US billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, decided he preferred Lowe to Farage. It is an argument about Farage’s control of Reform’s structures – and the slow progress in giving party members any role. The Reform leadership says it is about personal conduct – even reporting Lowe to the police for alleged threats to party chair Zia Yusuf – but acted against Lowe only when he criticised the leader.