28/10/2026
A former Wycombe High School pupil has accused Rupert Lowe of “dog whistle politics” after he posted about the ethnic backgrounds of students at her old school.
Toni Brodelle, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for High Wycombe, said pupils should not wake up to find themselves “sorted by skin colour in a politician’s post”.
Describing herself as a proud former student with 30 years’ experience in education and safeguarding, she challenged the MP’s use of the girls’ grammar school’s intake to make a wider argument about immigration.
Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth and leader of Restore Britain, claimed in an October 23 post on X that the proportion of white British pupils at Wycombe High School had fallen from 60 per cent to 30 per cent in ten years.
He asked: “Are we able to have a mature debate about how immigration has already entirely demographically transformed our country?”
Responding to the post, Ms Brodelle said: “I’m a proud former student of Wycombe High School, and I’ve spent 30 years in education and safeguarding. One of the most important skills Wycombe High School taught me was critical thinking.”
She highlighted the young age of pupils at the school and said many came from Wycombe families who had been part of the community for generations, regardless of their ethnic background.
“They shouldn’t wake up to find themselves sorted by skin colour in a politician’s post,” she said.
Ms Brodelle also questioned what conclusions could be drawn from the school’s demographic figures.
She said: “A selective grammar school’s intake isn’t a census of Britain, or even of High Wycombe.”
She criticised the lack of a source for the historical figure in Mr Lowe’s post, before adding: “If you want a mature debate, start by leaving children out of your dog whistle politics.”
Her comments follow criticism from High Wycombe’s mayor, Cllr Imran Hussain, who described using the school’s pupils to push a “divisive narrative” about immigration as “irresponsible and wrong”.
The mayor invited Mr Lowe to visit the town and meet its communities, saying Wycombe was “stronger because of its diversity, not in spite of it”.
Responding online, Mr Lowe said: “I disagree.”
He went on to claim: “Mass immigration has made our towns more dangerous, more divided, more deprived.”
Wycombe MP Emma Reynolds has also condemned Mr Lowe’s remarks as “divisive” and “disrespectful”, saying young people’s achievements should be celebrated.
✍Original copy by Nathaniel Lawson, Local Democracy Reporter
