Rupert Lowe has repeatedly refused to say whether he believes King Charles is a “white Briton” in a disastrous radio interview.
The Restore Britain leader was asked about a report written by the former Reform candidate Matt Goodwin – which Mr Lowe has quoted – which claims white British people will be a minority in the UK by 2063.
The report works on the basis that to be a “white Briton”, both of your parents must be UK-born. This means King Charles, whose father Prince Phillip was born in Greece, would not be considered a white Briton.
Asked three times by BBC presenter Nick Robinson whether he believed the King to be white British or not, Mr Lowe repeatedly refused to answer the question.
During the interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Robinson said: “Are you aware that, by the definitions used in that particular report, King Charles is not a white Briton? Do you think he is a white Briton?”
Responding, Mr Lowe said: “Well, many people have different interpretations of that, Nick. I mean, we can split hairs.”
“We’re not splitting hairs, do you think the monarch of this country is a white Briton?” Mr Robinson interjected.
Mr Lowe replied: “The experience of what we’re talking about is quite clear and I think most British people, if you speak to them, would agree.”
The Restore Britain leader then accused the BBC of trying to “whitewash all of the things that happen”.
“You peddle DEI... which British people have got bored of,” he said. DEI, or Diversity, equity, and inclusion, is a term that refers to policies that encourage representation and participation of people of different genders, races, ethnicities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, and classes.
Mr Robinson accused Mr Lowe of “ignoring the question”, to which the Restore Britain leader said: “I’m not ignoring the question.
“It is a fact that, by 2063, white British people will be a minority on current trends. I don’t think anyone disputes that.”
He also said he would defund the BBC “very quickly” should he come into power, as he accused the national broadcaster of becoming “malign”.
His rant was responded to by presenter Mr Robinson who said: “You're a man with money and a grudge and a social media account who airs his prejudices on X and gets a hearing because you've got the backing of Elon Musk.”
The report was written by Mr Goodwin, who ran as Reform UK’s candidate in February’s by-election in Gorton and Denton.
During his campaign, The Independent revealed that he had suggested that people who don’t have children should be taxed extra as punishment in an unearthed blog post.
Sunder Katwala, the director of the think tank British Future, told The Independent : “Restore Britain is unique among parties represented in parliament since 1945 in having no boundary at all to the racist right.
“Setting any boundary means civil war within the radicalised online right. Being unable to say clearly that Marcus Rashford and Kemi Badenoch, Jude Bellingham, Shabana Mahmood and even the King are obviously British is a red flag which means Restore is very unlikely to get over 5 per cent nationally or compete for any seat outside Lowe's own constituency.”
The Labour Party dubbed Mr Lowe’s remarks “dangerous and divisive”, with a spokesperson telling The Independent: “This kind of rhetoric has no place in our politics and only serves to fuel fear and hostility.”
“We should reject anyone who seeks to divide communities for political gain”, the Labour Party spokesperson added.
The comments come days after Nigel Farage opened the door to talks with his ally-turned-rival Mr Lowe over a pact between Reform UK and Restore Britain as he tries to reverse his party’s fortunes after a series of major setbacks.
The former Reform MP extended an unlikely olive branch to Mr Farage, despite several public rows between the pair in recent months.
The Reform UK leader offered a lukewarm response at first, before revealing on Monday he had “reached out” to Mr Lowe to discuss working with Restore Britain.
But despite Mr Farage saying he was “open-minded” about talks, relations quickly soured again when Mr Lowe accused the Reform UK leader of lying about having “reached out”.
Discussions about Restore and Reform working together come after Mr Lowe acrimoniously left Mr Farage’s party in March 2025 amid claims of bullying and threatening behaviour, before going on to found his own party, Restore Britain. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Lowe would face no criminal charges.
The party – which until now has largely been based in Mr Lowe’s constituency, Great Yarmouth – is further to the right than Reform on issues such as immigration and has enjoyed support from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has publicly backed Restore Britain a number of times on his X platform.
