Rupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth and leader of Restore Britain, is on course to earn about as much this year from the social media platform X as he does from his parliamentary salary, according to an analysis published by the Guardian on Monday afternoon.
The newspaper, drawing on Lowe's own entries in the Register of Members' Financial Interests, calculated that he has earned an effective £932 an hour from posts on the platform since the start of the year, more than twice the £377 an hour it says he averaged in 2025, and that the rate has risen to £1,476 an hour since 1 June. It put his total declared income from X since the July 2024 general election at more than £105,000, with over half of that earned in the first eight months of 2026. The figures and the hourly framing appear in the Guardian's account alone and have not been independently confirmed.
The basic annual salary for an MP is £98,599 from 1 April 2026, following a 5% rise confirmed by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority in March. Should Lowe's average earnings for 2026 so far continue for the rest of the year, the Guardian said, he would earn just over £93,000 from the platform — a projection rather than an outturn.
Asked about his accelerating earnings, Lowe told the Guardian: "If I wanted to make money, I would not be in politics." He said he donates his entire net MP salary to charities in his constituency and that being a politician is the most expensive job he has had, a position he has taken consistently since announcing the pledge in a post on X in July 2024, when he said he was "donating my entire net MP salary to Great Yarmouth charities/worthy causes".
The projection assumes the payment scheme continues in its present form. X's own help pages state that its Creator Revenue Sharing programme is being wound up, with existing members earning through to 7 September 2026 and a final payout for accrued earnings expected on or around 11 September. From 8 September, members may apply to a replacement Original Content Rewards Program.
Payments under the current scheme are formula-driven and open to eligible accounts globally. Under X's published terms, "the creator revenue share payment is based on engagement from Premium users with your content on X" — that is, on interaction from the platform's paying subscribers rather than on any editorial judgement about the content itself.
Lowe's register entries record a series of ad hoc payments this year, each declared against five hours of work, including £11,724.97 received on 10 June, £5,803.16 on 4 March and £3,185.69 on 1 April. Because the hourly rates are derived by dividing each payment by the hours Lowe himself declared, they reflect that self-reported figure rather than a measure of time spent.
Critics quoted by the Guardian argue that the arrangement financially rewards inflammatory political content. Ambrose Pym, a researcher covering the far right and technology who analysed Lowe's earnings, told the paper: "The more his content is seen, the more X pays him for it." Nothing on the public record establishes any bespoke arrangement between Lowe and X, or that the platform pays him because his content is divisive as distinct from highly engaged with.
Elon Musk, who owns X, has publicly endorsed Lowe's party, writing in a post: "Join Rupert Lowe in Restore Britain, because he is the only one who will actually do it!" Restore Britain was launched as a pressure group in June 2025 and registered with the Electoral Commission as a party in March 2026.
The underlying pattern has been tracked since September 2025, when PoliticsHome's analysis of the register found Lowe had declared £39,759 from X, far ahead of any other MP. That figure had reached £72,441 by the end of May 2026 and £85,534 by 10 July, according to Byline Times.
The most recent cross-party comparison, from September 2025, showed Nigel Farage declaring £9,663, Richard Tice £5,770 and Lee Anderson £3,871 from the platform.
The Guardian said it had contacted X with a request for comment.
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