Rupert Lowe has raked in more than £100,000 from posts on X since being elected in 2024, as the Restore Britain leader is set to make more from social media posts than from his MP salary.
Mr Lowe, who regularly posts anti-immigration content on Elon Musk’s platform, has made on average £931 per hour this year on X, according to the register of MPs’ financial interests.
This includes an £11,724.97 payment on 10 June for just five hours of work.
If he were to continue earning at the same rate through to the end of the year, his total takings would almost surpass his annual MP salary, which is £98,599.
The payments were made via billionaire Elon Musk’s “creator revenue” programme.
The scheme allows premium users with more than 500 verified followers to “monetise” their accounts on the controversial site, which has grown increasingly toxic since it was taken over by the Tesla tycoon in 2022.
But Mr Lowe hit back, saying: “If I wanted to make money, I would not be in politics. I donate my entire net MP salary to local charities in my constituency – being a politician is the most expensive job I’ve ever had.”
Mr Lowe enjoys a considerable amount of engagement on his posts, which boosts revenue secured by the programme.
His five posts on 24 August alone garnered 683,000 views and over 70,000 likes on the platform.
One post, which received 20,000 likes, called for foreign nationals living in social housing to be deported.
It said: “The honest truth is that if a foreign national is living in social housing and unable to financially support themselves? They don’t just need to be evicted from the building. They need to be removed from the country.”
Another, which received 24,000 likes, responded to reports about his earnings on X, in which he said: “ is attacking me over receiving money from X. Trust me, if I wanted to make money, I would NOT be in politics. I donate my entire net MP salary to charity.
“This is the most expensive job I’ve ever had, comfortably!”
Mr Lowe acrimoniously left Reform UK 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.
X has received a growing amount of criticism since Elon Musk’s takeover of the site, with the government having threatened to ban the platform over misuse of its Grok/AI feature.
Several government departments have also ditched the site, including culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who announced she is leaving it because it “favours abuse and misinformation”.