Credentials

Background

Rupert James Graham Lowe has been the Reform UK MP for the constituency of Great Yarmouth since being elected in the July 2024 general election.³ Lowe served as Brexit Party MEP for the West Midlands between July 2019 and January 2020.⁴ The Brexit Party became Reform UK in January 2021, when the UK officially withdrew from the European Union.⁵

Lowe is a former City trader, and was chairman of Southampton Football Club between 1996 and 2006, and again between 2008 and 2009.⁶

In his political career, Lowe has cast doubt over the existence of man-made climate change, criticised and called for a referendum on net zero, labelled climate campaigners “lunatics”, and pushed to allow fracking in the UK.

In a speech to the European Parliament in 2020, Lowe used a debate on bushfires in Australia, which killed 34 people and destroyed over 3,000 buildings, to argue that climate change had no role in the disaster.⁷ He said: “The cult of climate change marches on with no definitive evidence to support or deny the factual accuracy of their assertions. Logic suggests that climate change has little to do with this natural catastrophe.”

Lowe has used the phrases “climate lunatic,” or “climate loon,” to describe climate activists and campaigners at least 11 times online since 2021.

Lowe contested the Kingswood by-election in February 2024, where he won 10.4 percent of the vote,⁸ following the resignation of Conservative MP Chris Skidmore in protest to the then-government’s climate policy.

Business Interests

Rupert Lowe is the director of multiple UK companies, according to Companies House.⁹

In August 2024, DeSmog revealed that Lowe owns a stake in two green technology companies: Alto Energy which supplies air and ground source heat pumps and; Kona Energy, a battery storage company which describes itself as “one of the UK’s leading clean energy development companies”.¹⁰

In July 2024, Alto Energy published an analysis saying that the Labour government should “prioritise investments in green technologies like heat pumps,” continuing “After all, moving away from fossil fuel heating systems is crucial for achieving energy independence and net zero targets.”

The Kona Energy website says that battery storage is critical to meeting the UK’s “legally binding commitment to become net zero by 2050”. The website, which lists Lowe as an investor, says that Kona Energy is backed “by several highly supportive investors” and that it is seeking new partners “who share the company’s mission to deliver the zero carbon future.”

Lowe responded to DeSmog’s request for comment saying: “I’ve had a lifetime in business, which I’m incredibly proud of, and that’s equipped me with vital tools and experience that are severely lacking in Westminster. I make no apology for my involvement in a number of companies, across a wide range of industries. If more MPs had real business experience, the country wouldn’t be in such a sorry mess.”

Stance on climate change

Lowe has consistently used his platform to criticise net zero and call for a start to fracking in the UK. He has called the fracking ban “short-sighted and completely illogical,”¹¹ and “mind-numbingly stupid”.¹² He has also attacked climate campaigners.

October 6, 2022

In a post on X, Lowe asked “Is a referendum on net zero such a bad idea?,” arguing that “It is essentially overturning how our country operates.”¹³

April 28, 2022

Lowe tweeted that then-prime minister Boris Johnson’s government should “ignore and sideline the climate loons in his inner-circle […] and immediately get fracking.”¹⁴ This is one of 11 examples of Lowe labelling climate activists or campaigners “lunatics” or “loons” on X that DeSmog has identified.

February 2, 2022

In a post on X, Lowe called for Boris Johnson’s government to “cut this net zero nonsense,” and “focus on delivering what he was elected for.”¹⁵

November 1, 2021

In a post on X, Lowe labelled attendees of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow “hypocrites,” claiming that “400 private jets arrived in Scotland for this climate conference” and adding “yet these people want to stop hard-working families [getting] away for a holiday every now and again.”¹⁶

On the same day Lowe posted on X “if any of these climate protestors, politicians, ‘eco-warriors’ or whoever else do a single thing that they’re asking us to sacrifice, then they can sod off.”¹⁷

January 13, 2020

In a European Parliament debate about Australian bushfires, which killed 34 people and destroyed more than 3,000 buildings, Rupert Lowe argued that climate change played no role in the disaster.¹⁸ He added:

“It’s disappointing that climate change has been blamed as the primary cause of these devastating bushfires by both our [European] parliament and other so-called climate experts. The cult of climate change marches on with no definitive evidence to support or deny the factual accuracy of their assertions. Logic suggests that climate change has little to do with this natural catastrophe.”

He continued by claiming that the fires were the result of “discarded cigarettes” and “arson”, and when challenged on his remarks claimed that “We’ve had bushfires in Australia […] for many centuries” and “the biggest fires happened in 1974-75”.

A March 2020 analysis by the World Weather Attribution initiative estimated that the bushfires had been made 30 percent more likely by human-induced climate change.

Key Quotes

September 8, 2024

Lowe tweeted a picture of a newspaper headline saying “Sir Keir Starmer: We’re going to be unpopular over winter fuel payment cut,” and wrote alongside “Yes, Keir. You are going to be unpopular. Because you’re prioritising foreign ‘climate aid’ over British pensioners.”¹⁹

Lowe used the same figure to attack the Labour Party on 6 September, calling on the government to “put British pensioners first” and cut the “£11.6bn in overseas climate aid”.²⁰

May 23, 2023

Lowe posted a video on X that showed a police officer tackling someone who violently moved aside climate protestors blocking a road. Lowe said: “This is a scandal. The police manhandling a bloke who’s doing their job for them. Removing these climate loons from blocking up the roads.”²¹

April 25, 2023

In a post on X, Lowe called for harsher police crackdowns on climate protestors, labelling them “climate loons” and adding: “Why on earth are they allowing these cretins to block up our streets? If you or I tried it, we’d be turfed off in minutes!”²²

September 16, 2022

Lowe posted on X, saying that he was “delighted” that then-prime minister Liz Truss was “re-opening the fracking debate,” continuing: “I say get on with it – ignore the loons!”²³

June 1, 2022

In a post on X, Lowe called for fracking to be allowed in the UK, saying: “Fracking will happen at some stage, so why the hell don’t we get on with it now?”²⁴

Key actions

August 27, 2024

DeSmog revealed that Lowe owns a stake in two green technology companies: Alto Energy which supplies air and ground source heat pumps and; Kona Energy, a battery storage company which describes itself as “one of the UK’s leading clean energy development companies”.²⁵

Lowe’s Reform UK party included scrapping net zero as one of its key policy promises for the July 2024 general election.

In July 2024, Alto Energy published an analysis saying the new Labour government should “prioritise investments in green technologies like heat pumps,” continuing “After all, moving away from fossil fuel heating systems is crucial for achieving energy independence and net zero targets.”

The Kona Energy website, says that battery storage is critical to meeting the UK’s “legally binding commitment to become net zero by 2050”. The website, which lists Lowe as an investor, says that Kona Energy is backed “by several highly supportive investors” and that it is seeking new partners “who share the company’s mission to deliver the zero carbon future.”

July 9, 2024

Rupert Lowe was accused of mounting a “witch hunt” against local teachers in Great Yarmouth, for compiling a list of teachers who were alleged by Lowe to be “pushing” critical views against Reform UK, according to a report published in The Guardian.²⁶

Lowe said he would be pursuing the issue with headteachers, adding “I will be following up with each and every headteacher, making it abundantly clear that their responsibility to the children does NOT include forcing political opinions on impressionable young boys and girls.”

July 4, 2024

Rupert Lowe became the Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth beating the Labour Party candidate by 1,426 votes, having contested the seat which was previously held by the Conservative Party.²⁷

February 16, 2024

Lowe stood as the Reform UK candidate in the Kingswood by-election, triggered by the resignation of Conservative MP Chris Skidmore in protest to the then-Conservative government’s environmental policy agenda.²⁸ Lowe did not win the seat.

May 27, 2019

Lowe was elected as Brexit Party MEP for the West Midlands alongside Martin Daubney, a GB News presenter and the former leader of Laurence’s Fox’s Reclaim Party.²⁹