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    Plans to install new football regulator would destroy the Premier League, warns Reform MP Rupert Lowe

    A NEW football regulator would destroy the Premier League, ministers have been warned.Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe said a quango would strangle the competitiveness of one of Britain’s best assets.Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe, former chairman of Southampton FC and FA Board member, said setting up a regulator could see the Premier League destroyedCredit: PAHe insisted the league had built itself up without “interference from government or the state” and did not need it now. Mr Lowe — former chairman of Southampton FC and FA Board member — said setting up any regulator would be an own goal.Speaking to The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots show, he said: “The Premier League’s an unbelievable success.“It brings huge soft power to Britain, it brings huge amounts of tax revenue to the Exchequer.”READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWSHe then warned that London’s once world-beating financial centre was “destroyed by regulation”.He asked: ““Will the Government take responsibility if football goes the same way as our financial markets after they introduce a regulator?“Light touch self-regulation built the Premier League. Regulation will destroy it.”Mr Lowe also called for the lifting of the 3pm blackout, which forbids matches being shown live on UK television at the traditional kick-off time on Saturdays. Most read in FootballThe regulator would have powers to force Premier League sides to bail out cash-strapped lower-tier teams, clamp down on dodgy owners and ban clubs joining breakaway “super leagues”.The Tories introduced the Football Governance Bill but have since pulled their support.Unify League explained after European Super League launches again in new format Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is battling to get the legislation through the Lords where a cabal of peers is trying to sink it.Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is fighting to push the legislation through the Lords, where a group of peers is trying to block itCredit: GettyA new football regulator planned by Labour would destroy the Premier League, ministers have been warnedCredit: AFP More

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    I’m a former Premier League chairman and FA board member… now I’ve just been elected to Parliament as a Reform MP

    FORMER Premier League chairman Rupert Lowe has been elected as an MP for Reform UK.The ex-Southampton chairman won the vote in Great Yarmouth in the General Election.Rupert Lowe has been elected as a member of ParliamentCredit: GettyHe won one of the four Reform UK seatsCredit: GettyLowe, 66, was initially in charge of the Saints between 1996 and 2006.He had a second spell at the club from 2008 to 2009 and left with he club being relegated to League One and in administration.He was at the club during the move to St Mary’s from The Dell in 2001 and for the FA Cup final in 2003, which they lost to Arsenal.While working in football, he also had a role as a board member for the Premier League.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLIt was not his first time working in politics, as he previously represented the Referendum Party and the Brexit Party.In the 1997 General Election, he stood in Cotswold as the Referendum candidate and lost by over 20,000 votes to the Conservatives.During his time with the Brexit Party, he was lined up to be the candidate for the Dudley North constituency.However, he withdrew just before the deadline on November 14 2019 for unknown reasons.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSHe returned to politics by joining Reform UK in March 2023 and won the seat in Great Yarmouth with 35.2 per cent of the vote.He claimed the seat with a majority of 1,426 over the Labour Party candidate Kier Cozens.Adam Lallana seals emotional free transfer after leaving BrightonAfter his success, he said: “This is a huge, seismic event in British political history, to break into the two-party state as the people’s army is massive.”It shows that people have had enough, they want change, they want better government and they want freedom.”My job is to reform Westminster with other members of the Reform Party.”Reform UK won four more seats in its debut election, with leader Nigel Farage finally getting a place in Westminster at his eighth attempt.Who are these famous footballers? More