Inside the battle for Reform: Exactly how Nigel Farage is taking the catfight that’s torn apart his party and the very nasty briefings, revealed by ANDREW PIERCE

Arriving in style by helicopter for the Cheltenham Gold Cup yesterday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was full of his trademark swagger and bluster.

Behind the scenes, however, he has been less self-assured over recent days, having endured one of the most torrid periods of his political life.

The suspension from Reform of Rupert Lowe, one of the most effective of the party’s five MPs, has not just hit membership and fundraising. It has also damaged Farage’s personal standing.

A YouGov poll this week showed a third of Reform voters want a new leader. This would have been unthinkable before the party went to war with Lowe after his exclusive interview with me in the Daily Mail last week in which he questioned whether Farage’s ‘messianic qualities’ would translate into strong leadership.

One trusted former candidate for Reform, with close links to the party HQ, told me: ‘Nigel is absolutely shocked by the turn of events. He’s horrified.’

If Reform’s leaders thought Lowe, a successful…