Nick Xenophon’s former girlfriend claims he was ‘manipulative and controlling’ during their ‘destructive’ secret seven-year relationship.
Jenny Low, 34, claimed the former South Australian independent senator ‘aggressively’ pursued her when she started working for him as a staffer 25 years his junior.
She launched the personal attack just moments after announcing she would be running against him in the March state election under the Advance SA Party.
Mr Xenophon emphatically denied the ‘distressing’ claims, slamming Ms Low for using a ‘failed long-term relationship… for blatant political gain’.
‘The party should be renamed Gutter SA,’ he added.
Nick Xenophon’s (left) former ‘secret girlfriend’ Jenny Low (right) claims he was ‘manipulative and controlling’ during their ‘destructive’ secret seven-year relationship
Ms Low (centre) claimed Mr Xenophon, who is 25 years her senior, pursued her ‘aggressively’ after she worked as his campaign staffer in 2007
Mr Xenophon quit the federal parliament last month to run in SA’s state election with the Independent SA-Best party – a direct rival of Ms Low’s Advance SA Party.
Ms Low said she was ‘very young’ when her relationship with Mr Xenophon began.
‘It is very difficult for me to speak about my experience with a man in power,’ she said.
‘The reality is a 48-year-old man in a position of power pursued a 23-year-old who was in a junior role – and denied the relationship to almost everyone.’
‘It is not normal to be in a seven year relationship with somebody and for his family not to know.
‘It is not normal to have your existence denied to everyone you meet except a handful of trusted people.’
‘Lowest form of dirty and desperate political opportunism’: Mr Xenophon emphatically denied the claims and questioned the timing of the ‘distressing’ claims
Ms Low said she never met Mr Xenophon’s family during their seven-year relationship
When pressed on how Mr Xenophon was ‘aggressive and manipulative’, Ms Low said: ‘there are many more details I could go into but I prefer not to.’
‘I don’t want to get into those elements, because it will serve no purpose other than to smear his name and I don’t want to do that.
‘This is not a personal matter.’
‘I’d rather focus on what Advance SA can do for South Australia.’
Mr Xenophon flatly rejected the claims, saying he was ‘most distressed by any suggestion my relationship with Jenny was abusive or predatory in any way’.
‘I am deeply saddened that a failed long-term relationship that I was involved in has been used by the Advance SA Party for blatant political gain,’ he added.
Ms Low (centre, with brother and sister) launched the attack just moments after announcing she would be running against him in the March state election under the Advance SA Party
Mr Xenophon said he had sparked a personal relationship with Ms Low after she finished working as one of his campaign staffers in 2007.
‘After Jenny finished working for the campaign, our romantic relationship developed over time,’ he said in a statement.
‘The relationship waxed and waned and there were several long breaks until we finally parted company in mid-2014.
‘We both sought and obtained relationship counselling together in late 2013 and early 2014. Sadly, that did not save our relationship.
‘We talked about a future together but unfortunately we couldn’t make it work. In the end we were not compatible.’
Mr Xenophon said the timing of the claims ‘smacks of the lowest form of dirty and desperate political opportunism.’
‘I’m deeply disappointed the level of political debate in our state has plummeted to such depths,’ he continued.
‘When I entered this campaign I forecast my political opponents would throw everything at me including the proverbial kitchen sink. They clearly have not hesitated to get into the gutter at the first opportunity.’
Mr Xenophon emphatically denied the ‘distressing’ claims, slamming Ms Low for using a ‘failed long-term relationship… for blatant political gain’