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MP fails to halt probe into complaint against him

Owen SennittNorfolk
Andrew Turner/BBC Rupert Lowe standing in front of the Wellesley Football Stand in Great Yarmouth. He has grey hair, wears a gold-coloured suit jacket and blue shirt, and is looking at the camera. The football stand looks Victorian, with a sage green trim to it.Andrew Turner/BBC
Great Yarmouth's Rupert Lowe said the decision created a "scandalous situation"

An MP has failed in his attempt to halt a parliamentary watchdog investigation into a complaint made against him.

Rupert Lowe, who represents Restore Britain for Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, took his case against the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) to the High Court.

The ICGS had decided to investigate a complaint against him - which cannot be reported - made in January 2025.

But Mr Justice Chamberlain threw out the challenge and ruled it was "barred by parliamentary privilege".

Parliamentary privilege grants legal immunity to proceedings in the House of Commons and House of Lords.

The judgment comes days after Lowe celebrated the success of Great Yarmouth First, a party he set up, at last week's local council elections.

Getty Images The Royal Courts of Justice against a sunny, clear-blue sky. It is a large grey stone building in the Victorian gothic revival style. A number of people are gathered outside its entrance, and a black taxi cab is driving on the road in front of the building.Getty Images
Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled parliamentary privilege protected the investigation from being challenged

Chamberlain said the MP made the challenge on the basis the complaint was "made vexatiously as part of a campaign of harassment".

The ICGS investigates complaints of inappropriate behaviour against MPs.

Chamberlain said he would not be reaching a conclusion about Lowe's claim, and explained: "There are sound reasons, rooted in the constitutional separation of powers, for Parliament to reserve the determinations of complaints of this kind to its own carefully calibrated internal framework.

"There are equally sound reasons for the courts to respect that reservation."

Lowe criticised the decision on X, but did not say whether he would appeal the judgment.

He said: "We now have the scandalous situation in which unqualified and unelected civil servants can wield parliamentary privilege to literally place themselves above the law."

The nature of the complaint is unknown because there is a court order preventing the claimant being identified.

Lowe was elected as an MP standing for Reform UK in 2024.

Two months after the complaint was made, Lowe was suspended by the party, following claims he threatened then-party chairman Zia Yusuf.

He denied the allegations and the Crown Prosecution Service said no criminal charges would be brought against him.

After being ousted from Reform, Lowe has since launched his own party, Restore Britain, and is its only MP.

The ruling represents Lowe's second High Court defeat related to the claim, having lost a bid to temporarily block the watchdog's inquiry.

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