Rupert Lowe’s falling-out with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was so acrimonious he said he was the victim of a ‘political assassination attempt’.
Now leader of rival anti-immigration party Restore Britain, Lowe has become embroiled in a row with his upper-class neighbours in the Cotswolds.
The MP for Great Yarmouth in Norfolk lives in Gloucestershire and is trying to transform a barn he owns on his estate into a home with a separate annexe building as well as a garage.
His plans have sparked fury from locals including Rose Vestey, sister-in-law of the late Lord Vestey, a close friend of Queen Elizabeth and her Master of the Horse.
Mrs Vestey has complained to the local council, claiming the scheme would not be ‘remotely in keeping with the unspoilt aspect of the valley’ location.
She also raised concerns that the plans might herald even more works. Another objector echoed her fears, arguing for a ‘restriction to prevent further development’.
Lowe, 68, who was chairman of Southampton Football Club and made his millions through investment banking and private equity, also has to contend with a council biodiversity officer.
The officer warned the development could have a negative impact on the protected Cotswold Beechwoods and additional residents could add recreational pressure on vulnerable wildlife.
Rupert Lowe is trying to transform a barn he owns on his estate into a home with a separate annexe building and a garage
It’s not the first time Lowe’s stately ambitions have run into trouble. In 2023, he applied to transform five of his derelict barns into homes. The council rejected the scheme.
Lowe appealed, but the planning inspector dismissed the proposal and criticised its ‘insensitive’ design, arguing the renovations would erode the buildings’ agricultural character and harm the surrounding landscape.
Lowe insists his plans involve restoring ‘dilapidated and destroyed old barns’ and tells me the ‘development is not [of] farmland in any way shape or form’.
Sharon Horgan's revenge on her Bad boyfriend
Hell hath no fury like a television writer scorned, as Sharon Horgan can attest.
The Bad Sisters creator, 56, admits she took revenge on an ex-boyfriend by casting the woman he cheated on her with as an extra.
Asked if anyone has recognised themselves in her work, Sharon admits: ‘An ex-boyfriend of mine got in touch. It was a bit awkward... I cast one of the girls he had been with whilst he was with me as an extra.’
She adds: ‘It was just the best fun for me. And so he got in touch about seeing this girl. But she was in on it. She was really fine about it.’
Sharon Horgan took revenge on an ex-boyfriend by casting the woman he cheated on her with as an extra
'Robot' Reeves has a bold new gig
Rachel Reeves’s voice is not generally considered an instrument of beauty.
Indeed my colleague, parliamentary sketchwriter Quentin Letts, was frequently subjected to its range and qualities while she was Chancellor, and likened it to the noise that might be made by ‘a robot with a bunged-up nose’.
Nor, he observed, were her gestures and mannerisms especially beguiling, being limited on one specially demanding occasion to a ‘slow shaking of the head and a stare of constipated determination’.
But these seeming deficiencies haven’t prevented her from signing up with an agency which asserts she’s ‘a highly sought-after speaker’.
Is this the boldest claim yet by ‘Rachel from Accounts’?
As the 25th anniversary of George Harrison’s death nears, his widow Olivia touchingly reveals he gave his Oscar to close pal Sir Michael Palin.
The former Beatle, who won for the Fab Four’s 1970 film Let It Be, went on to form HandMade Films with Monty Python star Sir Michael. Olivia now recalls: ‘He gave his Oscar away... because he loved him. He said, “You have it, you really deserve it.” He scratched Michael’s name into it.’
Olivia adds: ‘After George died, he gave it back, which was very sweet.’
Lilly Becker struts back into Britain solo
Boris Becker’s ex-wife has declared she’s ‘done’ with men after splitting up with her boyfriend of four years.
Lilly Becker, 50, has moved back to London, where she walked the runway this week for the label Peruvian Connection.
Lilly Becker walks the runway for Peruvian Connection in London on Wednesday
‘Nobody’s in my bed, nobody snores,’ she says. ‘I like it.’ The Dutch model had been going out with German sports manager Thorsten Weck, 57.
A year ago, she quit Britain, explaining she could no longer afford to live here. Now, she’s returned with Amadeus, 16, her son with former Wimbledon champion Boris.
But she’s resigned to single life: ‘I have no luck with British men, so I don’t think it’s going to happen.’
Sussex doc is mocked
Another slight from Hollywood for the Sussexes.
In new documentary You Can See Everything, about tech fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, one scene sees her partner Billy Evans attempt to persuade the film’s producers to pay the couple for their participation.
When the film-makers baulk, explaining paying the subjects could damage the film’s integrity, Evans points to Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary as an example of participants being paid.
‘That wasn’t a real documentary,’ co-director Lance Oppenheim scoffs in response.
At an industry screening in London this week, the line provoked much laughter.
Julia Rausing Trust to fund King's maze
She succumbed to cancer aged 63 two years ago but even now Julia Rausing is bringing joy to King Charles, who’s continued with a dizzying array of official duties while being treated for the same disease.
I can disclose the King’s Foundation has received the princely sum of £9.27million from the Julia Rausing Trust.
She set up the foundation with billionaire husband Sir Hans Rausing, whom she married in 2014. Julia and Sir Hans gave more than £400million to UK charities and the trust now aims to donate £100million a year.
Its colossal donation will fund a centre for ‘nature-led wellbeing’ at Highgrove, the King’s Gloucestershire residence, an element of which will be a maze, due to open next spring.