Tories give ex-Reform MP Lowe seat on top committee

The Conservatives say they will hand ex-Reform MP Rupert Lowe a seat on an influential Commons committee as he "shares our values on cutting waste".

The Great Yarmouth MP will take one of the three seats reserved for Tories on the public accounts committee, which oversees government spending.

Lowe was elected in 2024 as a Reform UK MP, but was thrown out in March after a major falling out with party leader Nigel Farage and then chairman Zia Yusuf.

The MP said he was "delighted" with the appointment to the committee and will use the "opportunity to directly scrutinise senior figures from across the public sector on how your tax is being spent".

In a post on social media, Lowe said: "I am acutely aware of how hard British men and women work to pay their tax, an always-increasing amount.

"All of us in Parliament must treat it with the utmost care.

"I have committed a huge amount of time and energy to working on a cross-party basis in Westminster to deliver on a number of important campaigns. This is a continuation of that.

"I won't shy away from asking the awkward questions, I promise you that."

Giving their reaction to the appointment, a Labour source said: "The Tories crashed the economy and sent people's mortgages rocketing.

"So it's no surprise they would hand-pick someone for this position who also has no fiscal credibility."

The 16 member public accounts committee, which is widely seen as one of the most powerful at Westminister, has a Labour majority but is chaired by Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

The BBC understands Lowe will take the place of Bromley and Biggin Hill MP Peter Fortune, one of the two other Conservatives on the committee, so Fortune can focus on supporting the shadow science and technology team and his constituents.

This is not the first time the Tories have offered MPs of different political affiliations one of their spots on a parliamentary committee.

Rosie Duffield, the Canterbury MP who quit Labour after clashes over the party's stance women's and transgender rights, now holds a Conservative seat on the Women and Equalities Committee.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson, who has expressed scepticism about man-made climate change, occupies one of their spots on the Environmental Audit Committee.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "As Kemi Badenoch demonstrated when she made the offer to sit-down with Keir Starmer to help get proper welfare savings through Parliament, the Conservatives will work cross-party if it is in the national interest.

"We want the Public Accounts Committee to do its job of ensuring taxpayers get better value for money from the state, as well as identifying areas of government waste.

"Having someone who has run a business and shares our values on cutting waste on this Committee will help meet that goal."

Since his exit from Reform, several Conservatives have struck up closer ties with Lowe.

Conservative ex-cabinet minister Sir Gavin Williamson has joined the advisory board of Restore Britain, the "political movement" set up by Lowe.

While Esther McVey, another Tory ex-minister, joined the panel of Lowe's Rape Gang Inquiry, looking into gang-based sexual exploitation across the UK.

The investigation is running in parallel to the government-backed national inquiry into grooming gangs launched in June.

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